Polypeptides Having Lysozyme Activity and Polynucleotides Encoding Same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having lysozyme activity and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

This application contains a Sequence Listing in computer readable form, which is incorporated herein by reference.

REFERENCE TO ATOMIC COORDINATES

This application sets forth in FIG. 6, the atomic coordinates of the three-dimensional structure of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 lysozyme.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to polypeptides having lysozyme activity, catalytic domains, and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides and catalytic domains. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides and catalytic domains.

2. Description of the Related Art

Lysozyme is a O-glycosyl hydrolase produced as a defensive mechanism against bacteria by many organisms. The enzyme causes the hydrolysis of bacterial cell walls by cleaving the glycosidic bonds of peptidoglycan; an important structural molecule in bacteria. After having their cell walls weakened by lysozyme action, bacterial cells lyse resulting from osmotic pressure.

Lysozyme occurs in many organisms such as viruses, plants, insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. In mammals, Lysozyme has been isolated from nasal secretions, saliva, tears, intestines, urine and milk. The enzyme cleaves the glycosidic bond between carbon number 1 of N-acetylmuramic acid and carbon number 4 of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. In vivo, these two carbohydrates are polymerized to form the cell wall polysaccharide.

There is an increasing interest in the potential of lysozyme enzymes as antimicrobial agents. For example, lysozyme activity has been shown against pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bacillus anthracis, Enterococcus faecium, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium butyricum, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium sporogenes, Clostridium tyrobutyricum, and Listeria monocytogenes.

Lysozyme has been classified into five different glycoside hydrolase (GH) families (CAZy, www.cazy.org): hen egg-white lysozyme (GH22), goose egg-white lysozyme (GH23), bacteriophage T4 lysozyme (GH24), Sphingomonas flagellar protein (GH73) and Chalaropsis lysozymes (GH25). Lysozymes from the families GH23 and GH24 are primarily known from bacteriophages and have not been identified in fungi. The lysozyme family GH25 has been found to be structurally unrelated to the other lysozyme families.

Use of lysozyme has been suggested in animal feed (see for example WO 00/21381 and WO 04/026334), in cheese production (see for example WO 05/080559), food preservation (Hughey and Johnson (1987) Appl Environ Microbiol 53:2165), detergents (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,236 and EP 0425016), in oral care (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,022, WO 04/017988 and WO 08/124764), cosmetology and dermatology, contraception, urology, and gynaecology (see for example WO 08/124764).

A GH25 lysozyme has been reported from Chalaropsis (Felsch J W, Ingagami T, and Hash J H. (1975), “The N,O-Diacetylmuramidase of Chalaropsis species; V The complete amino acid sequence, J. Biol. Chem. 250(10):3713-3720).

Hen egg white lysozyme which is the primary product available on the commercial market, does not cleave N,6-O-diacetylmuramidase in e.g. Staphylococcus aureus cell walls and is thus unable to lyse this important human pathogen among others (Masschalck B, Deckers D, Michiels C W (2002), “Lytic and nonlytic mechanism of inactivation of gram-positive bacteria by lysozyme under atmospheric and high hydrostatic pressure”, J Food Prot. 65(12):1916-23).

It has been observed that different lysozymes have different specificities towards different microorganisms. It is therefore desirable to have several lysozymes available in order to be able to select suitable enzymes for each particular application. New polypeptides having lysozyme activity is therefore desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to isolated fungal polypeptides belonging to the GH25 family and having lysozyme activity.

The present invention further relates to isolated polypeptides having lysozyme activity selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a polypeptide having at least 80% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8;

(b) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide having at least 80% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7;

(c) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under medium-high stringency conditions with the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7, or the full-length complement thereof;

(d) a variant of the mature polypeptide SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8, comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion at one or more (e.g., several) positions; and

(e) a fragment of the polypeptide of (a), (b), (c), or (d) that has lysozyme activity.

The present invention also relates to isolated polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides of the present invention; nucleic acid constructs; recombinant expression vectors; recombinant host cells comprising the polynucleotides; and methods of producing the polypeptides.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to compositions comprising the polypeptide of the present invention, such as detergent compositions, animal feed compositions and a bacterial genomic DNA extraction composition.

The present invention also relates to the polypeptides of the invention having antimicrobial activity and methods of using the polypeptides of the invention as inhibitors of bio-film formation, in detergents, in dental care, in animal feed and for breaking down the cell walls of bacteria.

The present invention also relates to a polynucleotide encoding a signal peptide comprising or consisting of amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 4 or amino acids −23 to −1 of SEQ ID NO: 8, which is operably linked to a gene encoding a protein; nucleic acid constructs, expression vectors, and recombinant host cells comprising the polynucleotides; and methods of producing a protein.

OVERVIEW OF SEQUENCE LISTING

SEQ ID NO: 1 is the DNA sequence of the P244A7 GH24 gene as isolated from Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92.

SEQ ID NO: 2 is the amino acid sequence as deduced from SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 3 is the DNA sequence of the P242M9 GH25 gene as isolated from Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92.

SEQ ID NO: 4 is the amino acid sequence as deduced from SEQ ID NO: 3.

SEQ ID NO: 5 is the forward primer F-P242M9.

SEQ ID NO: 6 is the reverse primer R-P242M9.

SEQ ID NO: 7 is the DNA sequence of the synthetically optimised GH25 gene.

SEQ ID NO: 8 is the amino acid sequence as deduced from SEQ ID NO: 7.

SEQ ID NO: 9 is the forward primer BamHI.

SEQ ID NO: 10 is the reverse primer EcoRI.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows radial diffusion assays of Acremonium alcalophilum GH24 lysozyme (EXP03890, SEQ ID NO: 2), Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (EXP03864, SEQ ID NO: 4) and a reference lysozyme from Aspergillus fumigatus GH25 on S. carnosus and E. coli.

FIG. 2 shows the temperature stability of the Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4) at 60, 76, 70, 75, 80 and 85° C. after 30 or 60 seconds as determined by optical density drop of a solution of re-suspended Micrococcus luteus ÅTTC No. 4698 measured in a spectrophotometer at 540 nm.

FIG. 3 shows the thermostability of the GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4) as determined using Differential Scanning calorimetry (DSC) in 50 mM Na-acetate pH4.5, 50 mM Na-acetate pH 5.5 and 50 mM MES (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid), pH 6.5.

FIG. 4 shows the lysozyme activity of 4 concentrations of the GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4), the synthetic GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 8) and 11 variants of SEQ ID NO: 8 as determined by optical density drop of a solution of re-suspended Clostridium perfringens NN01260.

FIG. 5 shows the lysozyme activity of 4 concentrations of the GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4), the synthetic GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 8) and 11 variants of SEQ ID NO: 8 as determined by optical density drop of a solution of re-suspended Clostridium perfringens clinical isolate.

FIG. 6 sets forth the atomic coordinates of the three-dimensional structure of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 GH25 lysozyme. These atomic coordinates can aid in generating a three dimensional model depicting the structure of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 GH25 lysozyme and a three dimensional model of homologous structures, such as variants of the aforementioned lysozyme.

DEFINITIONS

Lysozyme: The term “lysozyme” activity is defined herein as an O-glycosyl hydrolase, which catalyses the hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond between two or more carbohydrates, or between a carbohydrate and a non-carbohydrate moiety. Lysozymes cleave the glycosidic bond between certain residues in mucopolysaccharides and mucopeptides of bacterial cell walls, such as 1,4-beta-linkages between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in a peptidoglycan and between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitodextrins, resulting in bacteriolysis. Lysozyme belongs to the enzyme class EC 3.2.1.17. For purposes of the present invention, lysozyme activity is determined according to the turbidity assay described in example 4. In one aspect, the polypeptides of the present invention have at least 20%, e.g., at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or at least 100% of the lysozyme activity of the mature polypeptide of one of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8.

Allelic variant: The term “allelic variant” means any of two or more alternative forms of a gene occupying the same chromosomal locus. Allelic variation arises naturally through mutation, and may result in polymorphism within populations. Gene mutations can be silent (no change in the encoded polypeptide) or may encode polypeptides having altered amino acid sequences. An allelic variant of a polypeptide is a polypeptide encoded by an allelic variant of a gene.

Antimicrobial activity: The term “antimicrobial activity” is defined herein as is an activity that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms, such as, algae, archea, bacteria, fungi and/or protozoans. The antimicrobial activity can for example be bactericidal meaning the killing of bacteria or bacteriostatic meaning the prevention of bacterial growth. The antimicrobial activity can include catalyzing the hydrolysis of 1,4-beta-linkages between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in a peptidoglycan and between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitodextrins. Antimicrobial activity can also include the lysozyme binding to the surface of the microorganism and inhibiting its growth. The antimicrobial effect can also include the use of the lysozymes of the present invention for activation of bacterial autolysins, as an immunostimulator, by inhibiting or reducing bacterial toxins and by an opsonin effect. For purposes of the present invention, antimicrobial activity is determined according to the antimicrobial assay described in example 10.

Altered/modified property: The term “altered/modified property” is defined herein as a characteristic associated with a variant that is altered or modified, as compared relative to the parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence. The altered or modified property may be a characteristic associated with a variant that is improved, unless otherwise stated, relative to another reference lysozyme or the parent lysozyme. Examples of properties which can be altered/modified or improved are given below.

Thermostability: The term “thermostability” refers to the lysozyme activity after a period of incubation at elevated temperature relative to the parent or an identified reference sequence, either in a buffer or under conditions such as those which exist during product storage/transport or conditions similar to those that exist during industrial use of the variant. A variant may or may not display an altered thermal activity profile relative to the parent. In one aspect, the thermostability of the variant having lysozyme activity is at least 1.0-fold, e.g., at least 1.1-fold, at least 1.5-fold, at least 1.8-fold, at least 2-fold, at least 5-fold, at least 10-fold, at least 15-fold, at least 20-fold, and at least 25-fold more thermostable than the parent or reference sequence at the selected temperature. Preferably the activity is tested using the lysozyme turbidity activity assay described in the “Materials and Methods” section.

Temperature profile/temperature stability: The term “temperature profile/temperature stability” refers to the variant enzyme showing a modified temperature profile as compared to the parent or an identified reference sequence, wherein the temperature profile is determined as lysozyme activity as a function of temperature. The activity at each temperature is preferably indicated as relative activity (in %) normalized to the value at optimum temperature. The optimum temperature is that temperature within the tested temperatures (i.e. those with 5-10° C. jumps) where the activity is highest.

pH stability: The term “pH stability” refers to the variant enzyme displaying structural stability relative to the parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence, after a period of incubation at a pH which is outside the pH range where the enzyme is active (pH activity range). Such a variant may or may not display an altered pH activity profile relative to the parent. For example, the variant may not be active at the increased or decreased pH, but is able to maintain its three dimensional structure and then regain activity once it is returned to the pH activity range. Alternatively, the variant may have an improved ability to refold relative to the parent following incubation at increased or decreased pH.

In one aspect, the pH stability profile is altered such that a lysozyme variant has improved stability at acidic pH. As used herein, acidic pH means from pH 2 to 5.5, preferably from 2.5 to 5.25, more preferably from 3 to 5, even more preferably from 3.5 to 4. Preferably, the variant lysozyme maintains at least 40%, preferably at least 50%, 60%, 70% or 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least 95% residual activity after incubation at a given pH for 1 hour when compared to the variant which has been maintained at pH 6.5 for the same time. Preferably, the residual activity of the variant lysozyme is at least 1.1-fold, at least 1.3-fold, at least 1.5-fold, preferably at least 2-fold, more preferably at least 5-fold, most preferably at least 7-fold, and even most preferably at least 10-fold higher than the residual activity of the parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence which has been treated under the same conditions. Preferably, the activity is tested using the lysozyme turbidity activity assay described in the “Materials and Methods” section.

pH activity: The term “pH activity” is defined herein as a variant lysozyme displaying an alteration of the pH-dependent activity profile when compared to the pH activity profile of the parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence. The pH activity profile provides a measure of the enzyme's efficiency in preventing microbial growth, eliminating microbial cells and/or performing catalysis of a hydrolysis reaction over a pH range at given conditions such as temperature and solvent composition. A lysozyme has a specific pH range wherein the polypeptide is stable and retains its enzymatic activity, outside this range the lysozyme becomes less active and potentially also less stable. Within the pH range there generally is a pH optimum, where the lysozyme shows the highest activity.

A lysozyme variant with improved activity at alkaline pH (e.g. from pH 7.5 to 12, preferably from 8 to 11, more preferably from 8.5 to 10, even more preferably from 9 to 9.5) will be able to function in more alkaline environments such as detergents.

A variant with improved activity at acidic pH (e.g. from pH 2 to 6.5, preferably from 2.5 to 6, more preferably from 3 to 5.5, even more preferably from 3.5 to 5) will be able to function under more acidic conditions, such as preservative in certain foods.

A variant with improved activity at neutral to weakly acidic pH (e.g. from pH 4 to 7.0, preferably from 4.5 to 6.5, more preferably from 5 to 6.5) will be able to function under weakly acidic or neutral conditions, such as for use a eubiotic molecule in feeds, to stabilize the healthy microflora of animals or by suppressing growth/intestinal colonization of viral, parasitic or bacterial pathogens in the GI tracts of animals.

In one aspect, the pH activity profile is altered such that a lysozyme variant has improved activity at a more alkaline pH. Preferably, the activity of the lysozyme variant at a pH at least 0.5 units higher, preferably at least 1.0 pH units higher, more preferably at least 1.5 pH units higher, even more preferably at least 2.0 pH units higher is at least 1.1-fold, preferably at least 1.5-fold, more preferably at least 2-fold, even more preferably at least 5-fold and most preferably at least 10-fold higher than that of the parent enzyme or an identified reference sequence. Preferably, the lysozyme variant at the same time maintains at least 40%, preferably at least 50%, 60%, 70% or 80%, or 90%, more preferably at least 95%, even more preferably at least 100% of the activity that parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence exhibits at its pH optimum. Preferably, the activity is tested using the lysozyme turbidity activity assay described in the “Materials and Methods” section.

In another aspect, the pH activity profile is altered such that a lysozyme variant has improved activity at a more acidic pH. Preferably, the activity of the lysozyme variant at a pH at least 0.5 units lower, preferably at least 1.0 pH units lower, more preferably at least 1.5 pH units lower, even more preferably at least 2.0 pH units lower is at least 1.1-fold, preferably at least 1.5-fold, more preferably at least 2-fold, even more preferably at least 5-fold and most preferably at least 10-fold higher than that of the parent enzyme or an identified reference sequence. Preferably, the lysozyme variant at the same time maintains at least 40%, preferably at least 50%, 60%, 70% or 80%, or 90%, more preferably at least 95%, even more preferably at least 100% of the activity that parent lysozyme or an identified reference sequence exhibits at its pH optimum. Preferably, the activity is tested using the lysozyme turbidity activity assay described in the “Materials and Methods” section.

Substrate specificity: The term “substrate specificity” refers to the specificity of the lysozyme in regard to the type of bacteria it can kill/inhibit and/or in relation to model lysozyme substrates (e.g. p-NP-(NAG-NAM)n or p-NP-(NAG)m oligomers). By modifying the substrate specificity of the lysozyme, the type of bacteria the lysozyme can kill and/or inhibit can be altered. In one aspect, the substrate specificity of the lysozyme is broadened, thereby allowing other types of bacteria to be killed and/or inhibited apart from the bacteria which the wild type lysozyme can kill and/or inhibit.

Glycation Susceptibility: Non-enzymatic glycation is a spontaneous posttranslational process where reducing sugars bind covalently to free amino groups in proteins primarily at Lysine (K) residues. Glycation may impact the activity of the lysozyme. In accordance with the present invention, the susceptibility of the lysozyme to non-enzymatic glycation may be reduced by specified amino acid changes.

Improved properties may also include thermal properties, such as pelleting stability, steam stability, broader temperature activity profile. Further improved properties may include protease-sensibility, and/or glycosylation pattern. Improvements are preferably assessed in relation to the desired application conditions.

Catalytic domain: The term “catalytic domain” means the region of an enzyme containing the catalytic machinery of the enzyme.

cDNA: The term “cDNA” means a DNA molecule that can be prepared by reverse transcription from a mature, spliced, mRNA molecule obtained from a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell. cDNA lacks intron sequences that may be present in the corresponding genomic DNA. The initial, primary RNA transcript is a precursor to mRNA that is processed through a series of steps, including splicing, before appearing as mature spliced mRNA.

Coding sequence: The term “coding sequence” means a polynucleotide, which directly specifies the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide. The boundaries of the coding sequence are generally determined by an open reading frame, which begins with a start codon such as ATG, GTG, or TTG and ends with a stop codon such as TAA, TAG, or TGA. The coding sequence may be a genomic DNA, cDNA, synthetic DNA, or a combination thereof.

Control sequences: The term “control sequences” means nucleic acid sequences necessary for expression of a polynucleotide encoding a mature polypeptide of the present invention. Each control sequence may be native (i.e., from the same gene) or foreign (i.e., from a different gene) to the polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide or native or foreign to each other. Such control sequences include, but are not limited to, a leader, polyadenylation sequence, propeptide sequence, promoter, signal peptide sequence, and transcription terminator. At a minimum, the control sequences include a promoter, and transcriptional and translational stop signals. The control sequences may be provided with linkers for the purpose of introducing specific restriction sites facilitating ligation of the control sequences with the coding region of the polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide.

Expression: The term “expression” includes any step involved in the production of a polypeptide including, but not limited to, transcription, post-transcriptional modification, translation, post-translational modification, and secretion.

Expression vector: The term “expression vector” means a linear or circular DNA molecule that comprises a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide and is operably linked to control sequences that provide for its expression.

Fragment: The term “fragment” means a polypeptide or a catalytic domain having one or more (e.g., several) amino acids absent from the amino and/or carboxyl terminus of a mature polypeptide or domain; wherein the fragment has lysozyme activity. In one aspect, a fragment contains at least 184 amino acid residues (e.g., amino acids 25 to 208 of SEQ ID NO: 4), or at least 195 amino acid residues (e.g., amino acids 22 to 216 of SEQ ID NO: 4). In a further aspect, a fragment contains at least 184 amino acid residues (e.g., amino acids 10 to 193 of SEQ ID NO: 8), or at least 195 amino acid residues (e.g., amino acids 5 to 199 of SEQ ID NO: 8).

Host cell: The term “host cell” means any cell type that is susceptible to transformation, transfection, transduction, or the like with a nucleic acid construct or expression vector comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention. The term “host cell” encompasses any progeny of a parent cell that is not identical to the parent cell due to mutations that occur during replication.

Isolated: The term “isolated” means a substance in a form or environment that does not occur in nature. Non-limiting examples of isolated substances include (1) any non-naturally occurring substance, (2) any substance including, but not limited to, any enzyme, variant, nucleic acid, protein, peptide or cofactor, that is at least partially removed from one or more or all of the naturally occurring constituents with which it is associated in nature; (3) any substance modified by the hand of man relative to that substance found in nature; or (4) any substance modified by increasing the amount of the substance relative to other components with which it is naturally associated (e.g., multiple copies of a gene encoding the substance; use of a stronger promoter than the promoter naturally associated with the gene encoding the substance). An isolated substance may be present in a fermentation broth sample.

Mature polypeptide: The term “mature polypeptide” means a polypeptide in its final form following translation and any post-translational modifications, such as N-terminal processing, C-terminal truncation, glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. In one aspect, the mature polypeptide is amino acids 20 to 227 of SEQ ID NO: 4 or amino acids 1 to 208 of SEQ ID NO: 8 based on the SignalP program (Nielsen et al., 1997, Protein Engineering 10: 1-6) that predicts amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 4 and amino acids −40 to −18 of SEQ ID NO: 8 are signal peptides. It is known in the art that a host cell may produce a mixture of two of more different mature polypeptides with a different C-terminal and/or N-terminal amino acid) expressed by the same polynucleotide.

Mature polypeptide coding sequence: The term “mature polypeptide coding sequence” means a polynucleotide that encodes a mature polypeptide having lysozyme activity. In one aspect, the mature polypeptide coding sequence is the joined sequence of nucleotides 58 to 147 and nucleotides 302 to 835 of SEQ ID NO: 3, and nucleotides 121 to 744 of SEQ ID NO: 7 based on the SignalP program (Nielsen et al., 1997, supra)] that predicts nucleotides 1 to 57 of SEQ ID NO: 3 and nucleotides 1 to 69 of SEQ ID NO: 7 encodes signal peptides.

Nucleic acid construct: The term “nucleic acid construct” means a nucleic acid molecule, either single- or double-stranded, which is isolated from a naturally occurring gene or is modified to contain segments of nucleic acids in a manner that would not otherwise exist in nature or which is synthetic, which comprises one or more control sequences.

Operably linked: The term “operably linked” means a configuration in which a control sequence is placed at an appropriate position relative to the coding sequence of a polynucleotide such that the control sequence directs expression of the coding sequence.

Sequence identity: The relatedness between two amino acid sequences or between two nucleotide sequences is described by the parameter “sequence identity”.

For purposes of the present invention, the sequence identity between two amino acid sequences is determined using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, Trends Genet. 16: 276-277), preferably version 5.0.0 or later. The parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EBLOSUM62 (EMBOSS version of BLOSUM62) substitution matrix. The output of Needle labeled “longest identity” (obtained using the -nobrief option) is used as the percent identity and is calculated as follows:

(Identical Residues×100)/(Length of Alignment−Total Number of Gaps in Alignment)

For purposes of the present invention, the sequence identity between two deoxyribonucleotide sequences is determined using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm

(Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, supra) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, supra), preferably version 5.0.0 or later. The parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EDNAFULL (EMBOSS version of NCBI NUC4.4) substitution matrix. The output of Needle labeled “longest identity” (obtained using the -nobrief option) is used as the percent identity and is calculated as follows:

(Identical Deoxyribonucleotides×100)/(Length of Alignment−Total Number of Gaps in Alignment).

Stringency conditions: The different strigency conditions are defined as follows.

The term “very low stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 25% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 45° C.

The term “low stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 25% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 50° C.

The term “medium stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 35% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 55° C.

The term “medium-high stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 35% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 60° C.

The term “high stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 50% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 65° C.

The term “very high stringency conditions” means for probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 micrograms/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 50% formamide, following standard Southern blotting procedures for 12 to 24 hours. The carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 70° C.

Subsequence: The term “subsequence” means a polynucleotide having one or more (e.g., several) nucleotides absent from the 5′ and/or 3′ end of a mature polypeptide coding sequence; wherein the subsequence encodes a fragment having lysozyme activity. In one aspect, a subsequence contains at least 552 nucleotides (e.g., the joint sequence of nucleotides 73 to 147 and nucleotides 302 to 778 of SEQ ID NO: 3), or at least 585 nucleotides (e.g., the joint sequence of nucleotides 64 to 147 and nucleotides 302 to 802 of SEQ ID NO: 3). In a further aspect, a subsequence contains at least 552 nucleotides (e.g., the sequence of nucleotides 148 to 699 of SEQ ID NO: 7), or at least 585 nucleotides (e.g., the sequence of nucleotides 133 to 717 of SEQ ID NO: 7).

Substantially pure polynucleotide: The term “substantially pure polynucleotide” means a polynucleotide preparation free of other extraneous or unwanted nucleotides and in a form suitable for use within genetically engineered polypeptide production systems. Thus, a substantially pure polynucleotide contains at most 10%, at most 8%, at most 6%, at most 5%, at most 4%, at most 3%, at most 2%, at most 1%, and at most 0.5% by weight of other polynucleotide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. A substantially pure polynucleotide may, however, include naturally occurring 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions, such as promoters and terminators. Preferably, the polynucleotide is at least 90% pure, e.g., at least 92% pure, at least 94% pure, at least 95% pure, at least 96% pure, at least 97% pure, at least 98% pure, at least 99% pure, and at least 99.5% pure by weight. The polynucleotides of the present invention are preferably in a substantially pure form.

Substantially pure polypeptide: The term “substantially pure polypeptide” means a preparation that contains at most 10%, at most 8%, at most 6%, at most 5%, at most 4%, at most 3%, at most 2%, at most 1%, and at most 0.5% by weight of other polypeptide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. Preferably, the polypeptide is at least 92% pure, e.g., at least 94% pure, at least 95% pure, at least 96% pure, at least 97% pure, at least 98% pure, at least 99%, at least 99.5% pure, and 100% pure by weight of the total polypeptide material present in the preparation. The polypeptides of the present invention are preferably in a substantially pure form. This can be accomplished, for example, by preparing the polypeptide by well known recombinant methods or by classical purification methods.

Variant: The term “variant” means a polypeptide having lysozyme activity comprising an alteration, i.e., a substitution, insertion, and/or deletion, of one or more (several) amino acid residues at one or more (e.g., several) positions. A substitution means replacement of the amino acid occupying a position with a different amino acid; a deletion means removal of the amino acid occupying a position; and an insertion means adding 1, 2, or 3 amino acids adjacent to and immediately following the amino acid occupying the position. A variant according to the invention may comprise from 1 to 5; from 1 to 10; from 1 to 15; from 1 to 20; from 1 to 25; from 1 to 30; from 1 to 35; from 1 to 40; from 1 to 45; from, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45 alterations.

The variants of the present invention have at least one alteration/modification selected from the group consisting of position number 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190 in which the position corresponds to the position in the mature sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. The variant polypeptide sequence is preferably one which is not found in nature.

Wild-type Lysozyme: The term “wild-type” lysozyme means a lysozyme expressed by a naturally occurring microorganism, such as a bacterium, yeast, or filamentous fungus found in nature.

Conventions for Designation of Variants

For purposes of the present invention, the mature polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 8 is used to determine the corresponding amino acid residue in another lysozyme. The amino acid sequence of another lysozyme is aligned with the mature polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 8, and based on the alignment, the amino acid position number corresponding to any amino acid residue in the mature polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 8 is determined using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, Trends Genet. 16: 276-277), preferably version 5.0.0 or later. The parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EBLOSUM62 (EMBOSS version of BLOSUM62) substitution matrix. The output of Needle labeled “longest identity” (obtained using the -nobrief option) is used as the percent identity and is calculated as follows: (Identical Residues×100)/(Length of Alignment−Total Number of Gaps in Alignment). The Needleman-Wunsch algorithm is used for sequence comparisons and for calculating sequence identities.

Identification of the corresponding amino acid residue in another lysozyme can be determined by an alignment of multiple polypeptide sequences using several computer programs including, but not limited to, MUSCLE (multiple sequence comparison by log-expectation; version 3.5 or later; Edgar, 2004, Nucleic Acids Research 32: 1792-1797), MAFFT (version 6.857 or later; Katoh and Kuma, 2002, Nucleic Acids Research 30: 3059-3066; Katoh et al., 2005, Nucleic Acids Research 33: 511-518; Katoh and Toh, 2007, Bioinformatics 23: 372-374; Katoh et al., 2009, Methods in Molecular Biology 537: 39-64; Katoh and Toh, 2010, Bioinformatics 26: 1899-1900), and EMBOSS EMMA employing ClustalW (1.83 or later; Thompson et al., 1994, Nucleic Acids Research 22: 4673-4680), using their respective default parameters.

When the other enzyme has diverged from the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 such that traditional sequence-based comparison fails to detect their relationship (Lindahl and Elofsson, 2000, J. Mol. Biol. 295: 613-615), other pairwise sequence comparison algorithms can be used. Greater sensitivity in sequence-based searching can be attained using search programs that utilize probabilistic representations of polypeptide families (profiles) to search databases. For example, the PSI-BLAST program generates profiles through an iterative database search process and is capable of detecting remote homologs (Atschul et al., 1997, Nucleic Acids Res. 25: 3389-3402). Even greater sensitivity can be achieved if the family or superfamily for the polypeptide has one or more representatives in the protein structure databases. Programs such as GenTHREADER (Jones, 1999, J. Mol. Biol. 287: 797-815; McGuffin and Jones, 2003, Bioinformatics 19: 874-881) utilize information from a variety of sources (PSI-BLAST, secondary structure prediction, structural alignment profiles, and solvation potentials) as input to a neural network that predicts the structural fold for a query sequence. Similarly, the method of Gough et al., 2000, J. Mol. Biol. 313: 903-919, can be used to align a sequence of unknown structure with the superfamily models present in the SCOP database. These alignments can in turn be used to generate homology models for the polypeptide, and such models can be assessed for accuracy using a variety of tools developed for that purpose.

For proteins of known structure, several tools and resources are available for retrieving and generating structural alignments. For example the SCOP superfamilies of proteins have been structurally aligned, and those alignments are accessible and downloadable. Two or more protein structures can be aligned using a variety of algorithms such as the distance alignment matrix (Holm and Sander, 1998, Proteins 33: 88-96) or combinatorial extension (Shindyalov and Bourne, 1998, Protein Engineering 11: 739-747), and implementation of these algorithms can additionally be utilized to query structure databases with a structure of interest in order to discover possible structural homologs (e.g., Holm and Park, 2000, Bioinformatics 16: 566-567).

In describing the variants of the present invention, the nomenclature described below is adapted for ease of reference. The accepted IUPAC single letter or three letter amino acid abbreviation is employed.

Substitutions: For an amino acid substitution, the following nomenclature is used: Original amino acid, position, substituted amino acid. Accordingly, the substitution of threonine at position 226 with alanine is designated as “Thr226Ala” or “T226A”. Multiple mutations are separated by addition marks (“+”), e.g., “Gly205Arg+Ser411Phe” or “G205R+S411F”, representing substitutions at positions 205 and 411 of glycine (G) with arginine (R) and serine (S) with phenylalanine (F), respectively.

Deletions: For an amino acid deletion, the following nomenclature is used: Original amino acid, position, *. Accordingly, the deletion of glycine at position 195 is designated as “Gly195*” or “G195*”. Multiple deletions are separated by addition marks (“+”), e.g., “Gly195*+Ser411*” or “G195*+S411*”.

Insertions: For an amino acid insertion, the following nomenclature is used: Original amino acid, position, original amino acid, inserted amino acid. Accordingly the insertion of lysine after glycine at position 195 is designated “Gly195GlyLys” or “G195GK”. An insertion of multiple amino acids is designated [Original amino acid, position, original amino acid, inserted amino acid #1, inserted amino acid #2; etc.]. For example, the insertion of lysine and alanine after glycine at position 195 is indicated as “Gly195GlyLysAla” or “G195GKA”.

In such cases the inserted amino acid residue(s) are numbered by the addition of lower case letters to the position number of the amino acid residue preceding the inserted amino acid residue(s). In the above example, the sequence would thus be:

Parent Variant 195 195 195a 195b G G - K - A

Multiple alterations: Variants comprising multiple alterations are separated by addition marks (“+”), e.g., “Arg170Tyr+Gly195Glu” or “R170Y+G195E” representing a substitution of arginine and glycine at positions 170 and 195 with tyrosine and glutamic acid, respectively. Different alterations: Where different alterations can be introduced at a position, the different alterations are separated by a comma, e.g., “Arg170Tyr,Glu” represents a substitution of arginine at position 170 with tyrosine or glutamic acid. Thus, “Tyr167Gly,Ala+Arg170Gly,Ala” designates the following variants: “Tyr167Gly+Arg170Gly”, “Tyr167Gly+Arg170Ala”, “Tyr167Ala+Arg170Gly”, and “Tyr167Ala+Arg 170Ala”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Polypeptides Having Lysozyme Activity

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 80% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 85% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 90% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 91% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 92% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 93% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 94% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 95% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 96% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 97% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 98% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 of at least 99% which have lysozyme activity.

In one aspect, the polypeptides differ by no more than 45 amino acids, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, or 44, from the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4.

A polypeptide of the present invention preferably comprises or consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or an allelic variant thereof; or is a fragment thereof having lysozyme activity. In another aspect, the polypeptide comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another aspect, the polypeptide comprises or consists of amino acids 20 to 227 of SEQ ID NO: 4.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 80% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 85% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 90% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 91% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 92% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 93% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 94% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 95% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 96% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 97% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 98% which have lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 of at least 99% which have lysozyme activity.

In one aspect, the polypeptides differ by no more than 45 amino acids, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, or 44, from the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

A polypeptide of the present invention preferably comprises or consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or an allelic variant thereof; or is a fragment thereof having lysozyme activity. In another aspect, the polypeptide comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another aspect, the polypeptide comprises or consists of amino acids 20 to 227 of SEQ ID NO: 8.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to an isolated polypeptide having lysozyme activity encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under medium stringency conditions, medium-high stringency conditions, high stringency conditions, or very high stringency conditions with the mature polypeptide coding sequence of (i) SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7, (ii) the cDNA sequence thereof, or (iii) the full-length complement of (i) or (ii) (Sambrook et al., 1989, Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2d edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.).

The polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7 or a subsequence thereof, as well as the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8 or a fragment thereof, may be used to design nucleic acid probes to identify and clone DNA encoding polypeptides having lysozyme activity from strains of different genera or species according to methods well known in the art. In particular, such probes can be used for hybridization with the genomic DNA or cDNA of a cell of interest, following standard Southern blotting procedures, in order to identify and isolate the corresponding gene therein. Such probes can be considerably shorter than the entire sequence, but should be at least 15, e.g., at least 25, at least 35, or at least 70 nucleotides in length. Preferably, the nucleic acid probe is at least 100 nucleotides in length, e.g., at least 200 nucleotides, at least 300 nucleotides, at least 400 nucleotides, at least 500 nucleotides, at least 600 nucleotides, at least 700 nucleotides, at least 800 nucleotides, or at least 900 nucleotides in length. Both DNA and RNA probes can be used. The probes are typically labeled for detecting the corresponding gene (for example, with ³²P, ³H, ³⁵S, biotin, or avidin). Such probes are encompassed by the present invention.

A genomic DNA or cDNA library prepared from such other strains may be screened for DNA that hybridizes with the probes described above and encodes a polypeptide having lysozyme activity. Genomic or other DNA from such other strains may be separated by agarose or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, or other separation techniques. DNA from the libraries or the separated DNA may be transferred to and immobilized on nitrocellulose or other suitable carrier material. In order to identify a clone or DNA that hybridizes with SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7 or a subsequence thereof, the carrier material is used in a Southern blot.

For purposes of the present invention, hybridization indicates that the polynucleotide hybridizes to a labeled nucleic acid probe corresponding to (i) SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7; (ii) the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7; (iii) the cDNA sequence thereof] (iv) the full-length complement thereof; or (v) a subsequence thereof; under medium to very high stringency conditions. Molecules to which the nucleic acid probe hybridizes under these conditions can be detected using, for example, X-ray film or any other detection means known in the art.

In one aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 58 to 147 or nucleotides 302 to 835 of SEQ ID NO: 3 or nucleotides 121 to 744 of SEQ ID NO: 7. In another aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8; the mature polypeptide thereof; or a fragment thereof. In another aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7 or the cDNA sequence thereof.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to an isolated polypeptide having lysozyme activity encoded by a polynucleotide having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or the cDNA sequence thereof of at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or 100%.

In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to an isolated polypeptide having lysozyme activity encoded by a polynucleotide having a sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 or the cDNA sequence thereof of at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or 100%.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to variants of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion at one or more (e.g., several) positions. In an embodiment, the number of amino acid substitutions, deletions and/or insertions introduced into the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 is not more than 45, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to variants of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion at one or more (e.g., several) positions. In an embodiment, the number of amino acid substitutions, deletions and/or insertions introduced into the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 is not more than 45, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45.

The amino acid changes may be of a minor nature, that is conservative amino acid substitutions or insertions that do not significantly affect the folding and/or activity of the protein; small deletions, typically of 1-30 amino acids; small amino- or carboxyl-terminal extensions, such as an amino-terminal methionine residue; a small linker peptide of up to 20-25 residues; or a small extension that facilitates purification by changing net charge or another function, such as a poly-histidine tract, an antigenic epitope or a binding domain.

Examples of conservative substitutions are within the groups of basic amino acids (arginine, lysine and histidine), acidic amino acids (glutamic acid and aspartic acid), polar amino acids (glutamine and asparagine), hydrophobic amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine), aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine), and small amino acids (glycine, alanine, serine, threonine and methionine). Amino acid substitutions that do not generally alter specific activity are known in the art and are described, for example, by H. Neurath and R. L. Hill, 1979, In, The Proteins, Academic Press, New York. Common substitutions are Ala/Ser, Val/Ile, Asp/Glu, Thr/Ser, Ala/Gly, Ala/Thr, Ser/Asn, AlaNal, Ser/Gly, Tyr/Phe, Ala/Pro, Lys/Arg, Asp/Asn, Leu/Ile, Leu/Val, Ala/Glu, and Asp/Gly.

Alternatively, the amino acid changes are of such a nature that the physico-chemical properties of the polypeptides are altered. For example, amino acid changes may improve the thermal stability of the polypeptide, alter the substrate specificity, change the pH optimum, and the like.

Essential amino acids in a polypeptide can be identified according to procedures known in the art, such as site-directed mutagenesis or alanine-scanning mutagenesis (Cunningham and Wells, 1989, Science 244: 1081-1085). In the latter technique, single alanine mutations are introduced at every residue in the molecule, and the resultant mutant molecules are tested for lysozyme activity to identify amino acid residues that are critical to the activity of the molecule. See also, Hilton et al., 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271: 4699-4708. The active site of the enzyme or other biological interaction can also be determined by physical analysis of structure, as determined by such techniques as nuclear magnetic resonance, crystallography, electron diffraction, or photoaffinity labeling, in conjunction with mutation of putative contact site amino acids. See, for example, de Vos et al., 1992, Science 255: 306-312; Smith et al., 1992, J. Mol. Biol. 224: 899-904; Wlodaver et al., 1992, FEBS Lett. 309: 59-64. The identity of essential amino acids can also be inferred from an alignment with a related polypeptide.

Single or multiple amino acid substitutions, deletions, and/or insertions can be made and tested using known methods of mutagenesis, recombination, and/or shuffling, followed by a relevant screening procedure, such as those disclosed by Reidhaar-Olson and Sauer, 1988, Science 241: 53-57; Bowie and Sauer, 1989, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86: 2152-2156; WO 95/17413; or WO 95/22625. Other methods that can be used include error-prone PCR, phage display (e.g., Lowman et al., 1991, Biochemistry 30: 10832-10837; U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,409; WO 92/06204), and region-directed mutagenesis (Derbyshire et al., 1986, Gene 46: 145; Ner et al., 1988, DNA 7: 127).

Mutagenesis/shuffling methods can be combined with high-throughput, automated screening methods to detect activity of cloned, mutagenized polypeptides expressed by host cells (Ness et al., 1999, Nature Biotechnology 17: 893-896). Mutagenized DNA molecules that encode active polypeptides can be recovered from the host cells and rapidly sequenced using standard methods in the art. These methods allow the rapid determination of the importance of individual amino acid residues in a polypeptide.

The polypeptide may be a hybrid polypeptide in which a region of one polypeptide is fused at the N-terminus or the C-terminus of a region of another polypeptide.

The polypeptide may be a fusion polypeptide or cleavable fusion polypeptide in which another polypeptide is fused at the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the polypeptide of the present invention. A fusion polypeptide is produced by fusing a polynucleotide encoding another polypeptide to a polynucleotide of the present invention. Techniques for producing fusion polypeptides are known in the art, and include ligating the coding sequences encoding the polypeptides so that they are in frame and that expression of the fusion polypeptide is under control of the same promoter(s) and terminator. Fusion polypeptides may also be constructed using intein technology in which fusion polypeptides are created post-translationally (Cooper et al., 1993, EMBO J. 12: 2575-2583; Dawson et al., 1994, Science 266: 776-779).

A fusion polypeptide can further comprise a cleavage site between the two polypeptides. Upon secretion of the fusion protein, the site is cleaved releasing the two polypeptides. Examples of cleavage sites include, but are not limited to, the sites disclosed in Martin et al., 2003, J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 3: 568-576; Svetina et al., 2000, J. Biotechnol. 76: 245-251; Rasmussen-Wilson et al., 1997, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63: 3488-3493; Ward et al., 1995, Biotechnology 13: 498-503; and Contreras et al., 1991, Biotechnology 9: 378-381; Eaton et al., 1986, Biochemistry 25: 505-512; Collins-Racie et al., 1995, Biotechnology 13: 982-987; Carter et al., 1989, Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics 6: 240-248; and Stevens, 2003, Drug Discovery World 4: 35-48.

The crystal structure of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 lysozyme was solved at a resolution of 1.3 Å. The atomic coordinates of this structure are shown in FIG. 6. These atomic coordinates can be used to generate a three dimensional model depicting the structure of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 lysozyme or homologous structures (such as the variants of the present invention).

The Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 lysozyme belongs to the GH25 hydrolase family assigned E.C: number 3.2.1.17. The catalytic mechanism is believed to be the classical Koshland retaining mechanism, with net retention configuration of the confirmation around the anomeric carbon. This is often achieved by a two-step, double displacement mechanism involving a covalent glycosyl-enzyme intermediate. The reaction occurs with acid/base and nucleophilic assistance provided by two amino acids side chains. In the first step (often called the glycosylation step), one amino acid residue (D95) plays the role of a nucleophile attacking the anomeric centre to displace the aglycon and form a glycosyl enzyme intermediate. At the same time, the second amino acid residue (E97) functions as an acid catalyst and protonates the glycosidic oxygen as the bond cleaves. In the second step (often called the deglycosylation step), the glycosyl-enzyme intermediate is hydrolyzed by water, with the second amino acid residue (E97) now acting as a base catalyst deprotonating, the incoming water molecule. The pK_(a) value of the acid/base group is believed to cycle between high and low values during catalysis to optimize for its role at each step of the catalysis.

Using the x/ray structure, amino acid residues D95 and E97 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) have been identified as catalytic residues. In embodiments of the invention (in addition to one or more of the alterations recited herein), no alteration is made to amino acid corresponding to E97 and D95, using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering, of the lysozyme variants of the present invention. From several lysozyme molecules it is known that mutation of the nucleophile can lead to an enzyme that retains some catalytic activity supposedly because water (perhaps in the form of OH⁻) can function as a nucleophile in this first step of the catalytic mechanism (Malcolm, B. A. et al, (1989), “Site-directed mutagenesis of the catalytic residues Asp-52 and Glu-35 of chicken egg white lysozyme”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 86(1), 133-137).

Variants Having Lysozyme Activity

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of an alteration at one or more (e.g., several) positions corresponding to positions 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190 of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 wherein each alteration is independently a substitution, insertion or deletion and the variant has antimicrobial and/or lysozyme activity.

In an embodiment, the alteration is a substitution. In another embodiment, the alteration is an insertion. In a further embodiment, the alteration is a deletion.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprises or consists of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprises or consists of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98% or at least 99% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 90% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 93% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 95% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 96% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 97% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 98% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

The lysozyme variants of the present invention comprise or consist of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 99% identity with the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

In one aspect, the number of alterations in the variants of the present invention is 1-45, e.g., 1-40, 1-35, 1-30, 1-25, 1-20, 1-15, 1-10 and 1-5, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45 alterations.

In another aspect, a variant comprises an alteration, such as a substitution, insertion or deletion, at one or more (e.g., several) positions corresponding to positions 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and 190 of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another aspect, a variant comprises an alteration at two positions corresponding to any of positions 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and 190 of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another aspect, a variant comprises an alteration at three positions corresponding to any of positions 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and 190 of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another aspect, a variant comprises an alteration at each position corresponding to positions 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and 190 of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8.

An embodiment of the invention is to alter the pH activity profile of the lysozyme whilst retaining lysozyme activity and/or antimicrobial activity. A preferred embodiment of the invention is that the lysozyme has improved activity at a more alkaline pH; i.e. the pH of peak antimicrobial or lysozyme activity increases/becomes more alkaline.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 10 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 10 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the pH activity profile of the lysozyme. In another embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of the substitution W10H which increases the pH of peak antimicrobial activity.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 39 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 39 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the pH activity profile of the lysozyme. In another embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of the substitution S39D which increases the pH of peak antimicrobial activity.

In another embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention consists of an alteration at position 10 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190. A preferred embodiment is the substitution W10H together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190.

In another embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention consists of an alteration at position 39 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190. A preferred embodiment is the substitution S39D together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 10, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190.

In a further embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention consists of an alteration at position 10 and 39 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). A preferred embodiment consists of the substitutions W10H and S39D.

In a further embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention consists of an alteration at position 10 and 39 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190. A preferred embodiment are the substitutions W10H and S39D together with an alteration in one or more of the following positions: 6, 11, 28, 30, 33, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 142, 143, 158, 161, 162, 178, 183 and/or 190.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 6 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 6 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 11 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 11 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 30 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 30 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 33 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 33 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 37 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 37 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 101 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 101 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 139 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 139 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 161 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 161 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 162 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 162 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 183 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 183 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

In one embodiment, the isolated variant of the present invention comprises or consists of an alteration at position 190 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering). In an embodiment, the alteration comprises or consists of a substitution of an amino acid at position 190 (using SEQ ID NO: 8 for numbering) which alters the substrate specificity of the lysozyme.

Sources of Polypeptides Having Lysozyme Activity

A polypeptide having lysozyme activity of the present invention may be obtained from microorganisms of any genus. For purposes of the present invention, the term “obtained from” as used herein in connection with a given source shall mean that the polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide is produced by the source or by a strain in which the polynucleotide from the source has been inserted. In one aspect, the polypeptide obtained from a given source is secreted extracellularly.

The polypeptide may be a fungal polypeptide. For example, the polypeptide may be a filamentous fungal polypeptide such as an Acremonium, Aspergillus, Chrysosporium, Fusarium, Humicola, Penicillium, Thielavia or a Trichoderma polypeptide.

In another aspect, the polypeptide is an Acremonium cellulolyticus, Aspergillus aculeatus, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus foetidus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Chrysosporium inops, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Chrysosporium lucknowense, Chrysosporium merdarium, Chrysosporium pannicola, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium zonatum, Fusarium bactridioides, Fusarium cerealis, Fusarium crookwellense, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminum, Fusarium heterosporum, Fusarium negundi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium reticulatum, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium sarcochroum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium sulphureum, Fusarium torulosum, Fusarium trichothecioides, Fusarium venenatum, Humicola grisea, Humicola insolens, Humicola lanuginosa, Irpex lacteus, Mucor miehei, Myceliophthora thermophila, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium purpurogenum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Thielavia achromatica, Thielavia albomyces, Thielavia albopilosa, Thielavia australeinsis, Thielavia fimeti, Thielavia microspora, Thielavia ovispora, Thielavia peruviana, Thielavia setosa, Thielavia spededonium, Thielavia subthermophila, Thielavia terrestris, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma reesei, or Trichoderma viride polypeptide.

In another aspect, the polypeptide is an Acremonium alcalophilum polypeptide, e.g., a polypeptide obtained from Acremonium alcalophilum CBS 114.92.

It will be understood that for the aforementioned species, the invention encompasses both the perfect and imperfect states, and other taxonomic equivalents, e.g., anamorphs, regardless of the species name by which they are known. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize the identity of appropriate equivalents.

Strains of these species are readily accessible to the public in a number of culture collections, such as the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ), Centraalbureau Voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), and Agricultural Research Service Patent Culture Collection, Northern Regional Research Center (NRRL).

The polypeptide may be identified and obtained from other sources including microorganisms isolated from nature (e.g., soil, composts, water, etc.) or DNA samples obtained directly from natural materials (e.g., soil, composts, water, etc.) using the above-mentioned probes. Techniques for isolating microorganisms and DNA directly from natural habitats are well known in the art. A polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide may then be obtained by similarly screening a genomic DNA or cDNA library of another microorganism or mixed DNA sample. Once a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide has been detected with the probe(s), the polynucleotide can be isolated or cloned by utilizing techniques that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989, supra).

Polynucleotides

The present invention also relates to isolated polynucleotides encoding a polypeptide of the present invention, as described herein.

The techniques used to isolate or clone a polynucleotide are known in the art and include isolation from genomic DNA or cDNA, or a combination thereof. The cloning of the polynucleotides from genomic DNA can be effected, e.g., by using the well known polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antibody screening of expression libraries to detect cloned DNA fragments with shared structural features. See, e.g., Innis et al., 1990, PCR: A Guide to Methods and Application, Academic Press, New York. Other nucleic acid amplification procedures such as ligase chain reaction (LCR), ligation activated transcription (LAT) and polynucleotide-based amplification (NASBA) may be used. The polynucleotides may be cloned from a strain of Aspergillus or Acremonium, or a related organism and thus, for example, may be an allelic or species variant of the polypeptide encoding region of the polynucleotide.

Modification of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the present invention may be necessary for synthesizing polypeptides substantially similar to the polypeptide. The term “substantially similar” to the polypeptide refers to non-naturally occurring forms of the polypeptide. These polypeptides may differ in some engineered way from the polypeptide isolated from its native source, e.g., variants that differ in specific activity, thermostability, pH optimum, or the like. The variants may be constructed on the basis of the polynucleotide presented as the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 7 or the cDNA sequences thereof, e.g., a subsequence thereof, and/or by introduction of nucleotide substitutions that do not result in a change in the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide, but which correspond to the codon usage of the host organism intended for production of the enzyme, or by introduction of nucleotide substitutions that may give rise to a different amino acid sequence. For a general description of nucleotide substitution, see, e.g., Ford et al., 1991, Protein Expression and Purification 2: 95-107.

Nucleic Acid Constructs

The present invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention operably linked to one or more control sequences that direct the expression of the coding sequence in a suitable host cell under conditions compatible with the control sequences.

A polynucleotide may be manipulated in a variety of ways to provide for expression of the polypeptide. Manipulation of the polynucleotide prior to its insertion into a vector may be desirable or necessary depending on the expression vector. The techniques for modifying polynucleotides utilizing recombinant DNA methods are well known in the art.

The control sequence may be a promoter, a polynucleotide that is recognized by a host cell for expression of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the present invention. The promoter contains transcriptional control sequences that mediate the expression of the polypeptide. The promoter may be any polynucleotide that shows transcriptional activity in the host cell including mutant, truncated, and hybrid promoters, and may be obtained from genes encoding extracellular or intracellular polypeptides either homologous or heterologous to the host cell.

Examples of suitable promoters for directing transcription of the nucleic acid constructs of the present invention in a bacterial host cell are the promoters obtained from the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase gene (amyQ), Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase gene (amyL), Bacillus licheniformis penicillinase gene (penP), Bacillus stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase gene (amyM), Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene (sacB), Bacillus subtilis xylA and xylB genes, Bacillus thuringiensis cryIIIA gene (Agaisse and Lereclus, 1994, Molecular Microbiology 13: 97-107), E. coli lac operon, E. coli trc promoter (Egon et al., 1988, Gene 69: 301-315), Streptomyces coelicolor agarase gene (dagA), and prokaryotic beta-lactamase gene (Villa-Kamaroff et al., 1978, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 3727-3731), as well as the tac promoter (DeBoer et al., 1983, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 21-25). Further promoters are described in “Useful proteins from recombinant bacteria” in Gilbert et al., 1980, Scientific American 242: 74-94; and in Sambrook et al., 1989, supra. Examples of tandem promoters are disclosed in WO 99/43835.

Examples of suitable promoters for directing transcription of the nucleic acid constructs of the present invention in a filamentous fungal host cell are promoters obtained from the genes for Aspergillus nidulans acetamidase, Aspergillus niger neutral alpha-amylase, Aspergillus niger acid stable alpha-amylase, Aspergillus niger or Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase (glaA), Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Aspergillus oryzae alkaline protease, Aspergillus oryzae triose phosphate isomerase, Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease (WO 96/00787), Fusarium venenatum amyloglucosidase (WO 00/56900), Fusarium venenatum Daria (WO 00/56900), Fusarium venenatum Quinn (WO 00/56900), Rhizomucor miehei lipase, Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase, Trichoderma reesei beta-glucosidase, Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I, Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase IV, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V, Trichoderma reesei xylanase I, Trichoderma reesei xylanase II, Trichoderma reesei beta-xylosidase, as well as the NA2-tpi promoter (a modified promoter from an Aspergillus neutral alpha-amylase gene in which the untranslated leader has been replaced by an untranslated leader from an Aspergillus triose phosphate isomerase gene; non-limiting examples include modified promoters from an Aspergillus niger neutral alpha-amylase gene in which the untranslated leader has been replaced by an untranslated leader from an Aspergillus nidulans or Aspergillus oryzae triose phosphate isomerase gene); and mutant, truncated, and hybrid promoters thereof.

In a yeast host, useful promoters are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase (ENO-1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae galactokinase (GAL1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (ADH1, ADH2/GAP), Saccharomyces cerevisiae triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), Saccharomyces cerevisiae metallothionein (CUP1), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 3-phosphoglycerate kinase. Other useful promoters for yeast host cells are described by Romanos et al., 1992, Yeast 8: 423-488.

The control sequence may also be a transcription terminator, which is recognized by a host cell to terminate transcription. The terminator is operably linked to the 3′-terminus of the polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide. Any terminator that is functional in the host cell may be used in the present invention.

Preferred terminators for bacterial host cells are obtained from the genes for Bacillus clausii alkaline protease (aprH), Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase (amyL), and Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA (rrnB).

Preferred terminators for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus nidulans anthranilate synthase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Aspergillus niger alpha-glucosidase, Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, and Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease.

Preferred terminators for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome C (CYC1), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Other useful terminators for yeast host cells are described by Romanos et al., 1992, supra.

The control sequence may also be an mRNA stabilizer region downstream of a promoter and upstream of the coding sequence of a gene which increases expression of the gene.

Examples of suitable mRNA stabilizer regions are obtained from a Bacillus thuringiensis cryIIIA gene (WO 94/25612) and a Bacillus subtilis SP82 gene (Hue et al., 1995, Journal of Bacteriology 177: 3465-3471).

The control sequence may also be a leader, a nontranslated region of an mRNA that is important for translation by the host cell. The leader is operably linked to the 5′-terminus of the polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide. Any leader that is functional in the host cell may be used.

Preferred leaders for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase and Aspergillus nidulans triose phosphate isomerase.

Suitable leaders for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase (ENO-1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae 3-phosphoglycerate kinase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (ADH2/GAP).

The control sequence may also be a polyadenylation sequence, a sequence operably linked to the 3′-terminus of the polynucleotide and, when transcribed, is recognized by the host cell as a signal to add polyadenosine residues to transcribed mRNA. Any polyadenylation sequence that is functional in the host cell may be used.

Preferred polyadenylation sequences for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus nidulans anthranilate synthase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Aspergillus niger alpha-glucosidase Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, and Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease.

Useful polyadenylation sequences for yeast host cells are described by Guo and Sherman, 1995, Mol. Cellular Biol. 15: 5983-5990.

The control sequence may also be a signal peptide coding region that encodes a signal peptide linked to the N-terminus of a polypeptide and directs the polypeptide into the cell's secretory pathway. The 5′-end of the coding sequence of the polynucleotide may inherently contain a signal peptide coding sequence naturally linked in translation reading frame with the segment of the coding sequence that encodes the polypeptide. Alternatively, the 5′-end of the coding sequence may contain a signal peptide coding sequence that is foreign to the coding sequence. A foreign signal peptide coding sequence may be required where the coding sequence does not naturally contain a signal peptide coding sequence. Alternatively, a foreign signal peptide coding sequence may simply replace the natural signal peptide coding sequence in order to enhance secretion of the polypeptide. However, any signal peptide coding sequence that directs the expressed polypeptide into the secretory pathway of a host cell may be used.

Effective signal peptide coding sequences for bacterial host cells are the signal peptide coding sequences obtained from the genes for Bacillus NCIB 11837 maltogenic amylase, Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin, Bacillus licheniformis beta-lactamase, Bacillus stearothermophilus alpha-amylase, Bacillus stearothermophilus neutral proteases (nprT, nprS, nprM), and Bacillus subtilis prsA. Further signal peptides are described by Simonen and Palva, 1993, Microbiological Reviews 57: 109-137.

Effective signal peptide coding sequences for filamentous fungal host cells are the signal peptide coding sequences obtained from the genes for Aspergillus niger neutral amylase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Humicola insolens cellulase, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V, Humicola lanuginosa lipase, and Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase.

Useful signal peptides for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor and Saccharomyces cerevisiae invertase. Other useful signal peptide coding sequences are described by Romanos et al., 1992, supra.

The control sequence may also be a propeptide coding sequence that encodes a propeptide positioned at the N-terminus of a polypeptide. The resultant polypeptide is known as a proenzyme or propolypeptide (or a zymogen in some cases). A propolypeptide is generally inactive and can be converted to an active polypeptide by catalytic or autocatalytic cleavage of the propeptide from the propolypeptide. The propeptide coding sequence may be obtained from the genes for Bacillus subtilis alkaline protease (aprE), Bacillus subtilis neutral protease (nprT), Myceliophthora thermophila laccase (WO 95/33836), Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor.

Where both signal peptide and propeptide sequences are present, the propeptide sequence is positioned next to the N-terminus of a polypeptide and the signal peptide sequence is positioned next to the N-terminus of the propeptide sequence.

It may also be desirable to add regulatory sequences that regulate expression of the polypeptide relative to the growth of the host cell. Examples of regulatory systems are those that cause expression of the gene to be turned on or off in response to a chemical or physical stimulus, including the presence of a regulatory compound. Regulatory systems in prokaryotic systems include the lac, tac, and trp operator systems. In yeast, the ADH2 system or GAL1 system may be used. In filamentous fungi, the Aspergillus niger glucoamylase promoter, Aspergillus oryzae TAKA alpha-amylase promoter, and Aspergillus oryzae glucoamylase promoter may be used. Other examples of regulatory sequences are those that allow for gene amplification. In eukaryotic systems, these regulatory sequences include the dihydrofolate reductase gene that is amplified in the presence of methotrexate, and the metallothionein genes that are amplified with heavy metals. In these cases, the polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide would be operably linked with the regulatory sequence.

Expression Vectors

The present invention also relates to recombinant expression vectors comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention, a promoter, and transcriptional and translational stop signals. The various nucleotide and control sequences may be joined together to produce a recombinant expression vector that may include one or more convenient restriction sites to allow for insertion or substitution of the polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide at such sites. Alternatively, the polynucleotide may be expressed by inserting the polynucleotide or a nucleic acid construct comprising the polynucleotide into an appropriate vector for expression. In creating the expression vector, the coding sequence is located in the vector so that the coding sequence is operably linked with the appropriate control sequences for expression.

The recombinant expression vector may be any vector (e.g., a plasmid or virus) that can be conveniently subjected to recombinant DNA procedures and can bring about expression of the polynucleotide. The choice of the vector will typically depend on the compatibility of the vector with the host cell into which the vector is to be introduced. The vector may be a linear or closed circular plasmid.

The vector may be an autonomously replicating vector, i.e., a vector that exists as an extrachromosomal entity, the replication of which is independent of chromosomal replication, e.g., a plasmid, an extrachromosomal element, a minichromosome, or an artificial chromosome. The vector may contain any means for assuring self-replication. Alternatively, the vector may be one that, when introduced into the host cell, is integrated into the genome and replicated together with the chromosome(s) into which it has been integrated. Furthermore, a single vector or plasmid or two or more vectors or plasmids that together contain the total DNA to be introduced into the genome of the host cell, or a transposon, may be used.

The vector preferably contains one or more selectable markers that permit easy selection of transformed, transfected, transduced, or the like cells. A selectable marker is a gene the product of which provides for biocide or viral resistance, resistance to heavy metals, prototrophy to auxotrophs, and the like.

Examples of bacterial selectable markers are Bacillus licheniformis or Bacillus subtilis dal genes, or markers that confer antibiotic resistance such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, neomycin, spectinomycin, or tetracycline resistance. Suitable markers for yeast host cells include, but are not limited to, ADE2, HIS3, LEU2, LYS2, MET3, TRP1, and URA3. Selectable markers for use in a filamentous fungal host cell include, but are not limited to, amdS (acetamidase), argB (ornithine carbamoyltransferase), bar (phosphinothricin acetyltransferase), hph (hygromycin phosphotransferase), niaD (nitrate reductase), pyrG (orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase), sC (sulfate adenyltransferase), and trpC (anthranilate synthase), as well as equivalents thereof. Preferred for use in an Aspergillus cell are Aspergillus nidulans or Aspergillus oryzae amdS and pyrG genes and a Streptomyces hygroscopicus bar gene.

The vector preferably contains an element(s) that permits integration of the vector into the host cell's genome or autonomous replication of the vector in the cell independent of the genome.

For integration into the host cell genome, the vector may rely on the polynucleotide's sequence encoding the polypeptide or any other element of the vector for integration into the genome by homologous or non-homologous recombination. Alternatively, the vector may contain additional polynucleotides for directing integration by homologous recombination into the genome of the host cell at a precise location(s) in the chromosome(s). To increase the likelihood of integration at a precise location, the integrational elements should contain a sufficient number of nucleic acids, such as 100 to 10,000 base pairs, 400 to 10,000 base pairs, and 800 to 10,000 base pairs, which have a high degree of sequence identity to the corresponding target sequence to enhance the probability of homologous recombination. The integrational elements may be any sequence that is homologous with the target sequence in the genome of the host cell. Furthermore, the integrational elements may be non-encoding or encoding polynucleotides. On the other hand, the vector may be integrated into the genome of the host cell by non-homologous recombination.

For autonomous replication, the vector may further comprise an origin of replication enabling the vector to replicate autonomously in the host cell in question. The origin of replication may be any plasmid replicator mediating autonomous replication that functions in a cell. The term “origin of replication” or “plasmid replicator” means a polynucleotide that enables a plasmid or vector to replicate in vivo.

Examples of bacterial origins of replication are the origins of replication of plasmids pBR322, pUC19, pACYC177, and pACYC184 permitting replication in E. coli, and pUB110, pE194, pTA1060, and pAMRI permitting replication in Bacillus.

Examples of origins of replication for use in a yeast host cell are the 2 micron origin of replication, ARS1, ARS4, the combination of ARS1 and CEN3, and the combination of ARS4 and CEN6.

Examples of origins of replication useful in a filamentous fungal cell are AMA1 and ANSI (Gems et al., 1991, Gene 98: 61-67; Cullen et al., 1987, Nucleic Acids Res. 15: 9163-9175; WO 00/24883). Isolation of the AMA1 gene and construction of plasmids or vectors comprising the gene can be accomplished according to the methods disclosed in WO 00/24883.

More than one copy of a polynucleotide of the present invention may be inserted into a host cell to increase production of a polypeptide. An increase in the copy number of the polynucleotide can be obtained by integrating at least one additional copy of the sequence into the host cell genome or by including an amplifiable selectable marker gene with the polynucleotide where cells containing amplified copies of the selectable marker gene, and thereby additional copies of the polynucleotide, can be selected for by cultivating the cells in the presence of the appropriate selectable agent.

The procedures used to ligate the elements described above to construct the recombinant expression vectors of the present invention are well known to one skilled in the art (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989, supra).

Signal Peptide

The present invention also relates to an isolated polynucleotide encoding a signal peptide comprising or consisting of amino acids amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 4, or amino acids −40 to −18 of SEQ ID NO: 4. The polynucleotides may further comprise a gene encoding a protein, which is operably linked to the signal peptide. The protein is preferably foreign to the signal peptide. In one aspect, the polynucleotide encoding the signal peptide is nucleotides 1 to 57 of SEQ ID NO: 3 or nucleotides 1 to 69 of SEQ ID NO: 7.

The present invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, expression vectors and recombinant host cells comprising such polynucleotides.

The present invention also relates to methods of producing a protein, comprising (a) cultivating a recombinant host cell comprising such polynucleotide; and (b) recovering the protein.

The protein may be native or heterologous to a host cell. The term “protein” is not meant herein to refer to a specific length of the encoded product and, therefore, encompasses peptides, oligopeptides, and polypeptides. The term “protein” also encompasses two or more polypeptides combined to form the encoded product. The proteins also include hybrid polypeptides and fused polypeptides.

Preferably, the protein is a hormone, enzyme, receptor or portion thereof, antibody or portion thereof, or reporter. For example, the protein may be a hydrolase, isomerase, ligase, lyase, oxidoreductase, or transferase, e.g., an aminopeptidase, amylase, carbohydrase, carboxypeptidase, catalase, cellobiohydrolase, cellulase, chitinase, cutinase, cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase, deoxyribonuclease, endoglucanase, esterase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase, glucoamylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, invertase, laccase, lipase, mannosidase, mutanase, oxidase, pectinolytic enzyme, peroxidase, phytase, polyphenoloxidase, proteolytic enzyme, ribonuclease, transglutaminase, xylanase, or beta-xylosidase.

The gene may be obtained from any prokaryotic, eukaryotic, or other source.

Host Cells

The present invention also relates to recombinant host cells, comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention operably linked to one or more control sequences that direct the production of a polypeptide of the present invention. A construct or vector comprising a polynucleotide is introduced into a host cell so that the construct or vector is maintained as a chromosomal integrant or as a self-replicating extra-chromosomal vector as described earlier. The term “host cell” encompasses any progeny of a parent cell that is not identical to the parent cell due to mutations that occur during replication. The choice of a host cell will to a large extent depend upon the gene encoding the polypeptide and its source.

The host cell may be any cell useful in the recombinant production of a polypeptide of the present invention, e.g., a prokaryote or a eukaryote.

The prokaryotic host cell may be any Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacterium. Gram-positive bacteria include, but are not limited to, Bacillus, Clostridium, Enterococcus, Geobacillus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Oceanobacillus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Streptomyces. Gram-negative bacteria include, but are not limited to, Campylobacter, E. coli, Flavobacterium, Fusobacterium, Helicobacter, Ilyobacter, Neisseria, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and Ureaplasma.

The bacterial host cell may be any Bacillus cell including, but not limited to, Bacillus alkalophilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus clausii, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus lautus, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus thuringiensis cells.

The bacterial host cell may also be any Streptococcus cell including, but not limited to, Streptococcus equisimilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus uberis, and Streptococcus equi subsp. Zooepidemicus cells.

The bacterial host cell may also be any Streptomyces cell including, but not limited to, Streptomyces achromogenes, Streptomyces avermitilis, Streptomyces coelicolor, Streptomyces griseus, and Streptomyces lividans cells.

The introduction of DNA into a Bacillus cell may be effected by protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Chang and Cohen, 1979, Mol. Gen. Genet. 168: 111-115), competent cell transformation (see, e.g., Young and Spizizen, 1961, J. Bacteriol. 81: 823-829, or Dubnau and Davidoff-Abelson, 1971, J. Mol. Biol. 56: 209-221), electroporation (see, e.g., Shigekawa and Dower, 1988, Biotechniques 6: 742-751), or conjugation (see, e.g., Koehler and Thorne, 1987, J. Bacteriol. 169: 5271-5278). The introduction of DNA into an E. coli cell may be effected by protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Hanahan, 1983, J. Mol. Biol. 166: 557-580) or electroporation (see, e.g., Dower et al., 1988, Nucleic Acids Res. 16: 6127-6145). The introduction of DNA into a Streptomyces cell may be effected by protoplast transformation, electroporation (see, e.g., Gong et al., 2004, Folia Microbiol. (Praha) 49: 399-405), conjugation (see, e.g., Mazodier et al., 1989, J. Bacteriol. 171: 3583-3585), or transduction (see, e.g., Burke et al., 2001, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 6289-6294). The introduction of DNA into a Pseudomonas cell may be effected by electroporation (see, e.g., Choi et al., 2006, J. Microbiol. Methods 64: 391-397) or conjugation (see, e.g., Pinedo and Smets, 2005, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 51-57). The introduction of DNA into a Streptococcus cell may be effected by natural competence (see, e.g., Perry and Kuramitsu, 1981, Infect. Immun. 32: 1295-1297), protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Catt and Jollick, 1991, Microbios 68: 189-207), electroporation (see, e.g., Buckley et al., 1999, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 3800-3804), or conjugation (see, e.g., Clewell, 1981, Microbiol. Rev. 45: 409-436). However, any method known in the art for introducing DNA into a host cell can be used.

The host cell may also be a eukaryote, such as a mammalian, insect, plant, or fungal cell.

The host cell may be a fungal cell. “Fungi” as used herein includes the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota as well as the Oomycota and all mitosporic fungi (as defined by Hawksworth et al., In, Ainsworth and Bisby's Dictionary of The Fungi, 8th edition, 1995, CAB International, University Press, Cambridge, UK).

The fungal host cell may be a yeast cell. “Yeast” as used herein includes ascosporogenous yeast (Endomycetales), basidiosporogenous yeast, and yeast belonging to the Fungi Imperfecti (Blastomycetes). Since the classification of yeast may change in the future, for the purposes of this invention, yeast shall be defined as described in Biology and Activities of Yeast (Skinner, Passmore, and Davenport, editors, Soc. App. Bacteriol. Symposium Series No. 9, 1980).

The yeast host cell may be a Candida, Hansenula, Kluyveromyces, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, or Yarrowia cell, such as a Kluyveromyces lactis, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces diastaticus, Saccharomyces douglasii, Saccharomyces kluyveri, Saccharomyces norbensis, Saccharomyces oviform is, or Yarrowia lipolytica cell.

The fungal host cell may be a filamentous fungal cell. “Filamentous fungi” include all filamentous forms of the subdivision Eumycota and Oomycota (as defined by Hawksworth et al., 1995, supra). The filamentous fungi are generally characterized by a mycelial wall composed of chitin, cellulose, glucan, chitosan, mannan, and other complex polysaccharides. Vegetative growth is by hyphal elongation and carbon catabolism is obligately aerobic. In contrast, vegetative growth by yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is by budding of a unicellular thallus and carbon catabolism may be fermentative.

The filamentous fungal host cell may be an Acremonium, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Bjerkandera, Ceriporiopsis, Chrysosporium, Coprinus, Coriolus, Cryptococcus, Filibasidium, Fusarium, Humicola, Magnaporthe, Mucor, Myceliophthora, Neocallimastix, Neurospora, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Phanerochaete, Phlebia, Piromyces, Pleurotus, Schizophyllum, Talaromyces, Thermoascus, Thielavia, Tolypocladium, Trametes, or Trichoderma cell.

For example, the filamentous fungal host cell may be an Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus foetidus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Bjerkandera adusta, Ceriporiopsis aneirina, Ceriporiopsis caregiea, Ceriporiopsis gilvescens, Ceriporiopsis pannocinta, Ceriporiopsis rivulosa, Ceriporiopsis subrufa, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Chrysosporium inops, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Chrysosporium lucknowense, Chrysosporium merdarium, Chrysosporium pannicola, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium zonatum, Coprinus cinereus, Coriolus hirsutus, Fusarium bactridioides, Fusarium cerealis, Fusarium crookwellense, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminum, Fusarium heterosporum, Fusarium negundi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium reticulatum, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium sarcochroum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium sulphureum, Fusarium torulosum, Fusarium trichothecioides, Fusarium venenatum, Humicola insolens, Humicola lanuginosa, Mucor miehei, Myceliophthora thermophila, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium purpurogenum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Phlebia radiata, Pleurotus eryngii, Thielavia terrestris, Trametes villosa, Trametes versicolor, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma reesei, or Trichoderma viride cell.

Fungal cells may be transformed by a process involving protoplast formation, transformation of the protoplasts, and regeneration of the cell wall in a manner known per se. Suitable procedures for transformation of Aspergillus and Trichoderma host cells are described in EP 238023, Yelton et al., 1984, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 1470-1474, and Christensen et al., 1988, Bio/Technology 6: 1419-1422. Suitable methods for transforming Fusarium species are described by Malardier et al., 1989, Gene 78: 147-156, and WO 96/00787. Yeast may be transformed using the procedures described by Becker and Guarente, In Abelson, J. N. and Simon, M. I., editors, Guide to Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, Methods in Enzymology, Volume 194, pp 182-187, Academic Press, Inc., New York; Ito et al., 1983, J. Bacteriol. 153: 163; and Hinnen et al., 1978, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75: 1920.

Methods of Production

The present invention also relates to methods of producing a polypeptide of the present invention, comprising (a) cultivating a cell, which in its wild-type form produces the polypeptide, under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide. In a preferred aspect, the cell is an Acremonium cell. In a more preferred aspect, the cell is an Acremonium alcalophilum cell. In a most preferred aspect, the cell is an Acremonium alcalophilum CBS 114.92.

The present invention also relates to methods of producing a polypeptide of the present invention, comprising (a) cultivating a recombinant host cell of the present invention under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide.

The host cells are cultivated in a nutrient medium suitable for production of the polypeptide using methods known in the art. For example, the cell may be cultivated by shake flask cultivation, or small-scale or large-scale fermentation (including continuous, batch, fed-batch, or solid state fermentations) in laboratory or industrial fermentors performed in a suitable medium and under conditions allowing the polypeptide to be expressed and/or isolated. The cultivation takes place in a suitable nutrient medium comprising carbon and nitrogen sources and inorganic salts, using procedures known in the art. Suitable media are available from commercial suppliers or may be prepared according to published compositions (e.g., in catalogues of the American Type Culture Collection). If the polypeptide is secreted into the nutrient medium, the polypeptide can be recovered directly from the medium. If the polypeptide is not secreted, it can be recovered from cell lysates.

The polypeptide may be detected using methods known in the art that are specific for the polypeptides for example the lysozyme spot assay as described below. These detection methods include, but are not limited to, use of specific antibodies, formation of an enzyme product, or disappearance of an enzyme substrate. For example, an enzyme assay may be used to determine the activity of the polypeptide.

The polypeptide may be recovered using methods known in the art. For example, the polypeptide may be recovered from the nutrient medium by conventional procedures including, but not limited to, collection, centrifugation, filtration, extraction, spray-drying, evaporation, or precipitation.

The polypeptide may be purified by a variety of procedures known in the art including, but not limited to, chromatography (e.g., ion exchange, affinity, hydrophobic, chromatofocusing, and size exclusion), electrophoretic procedures (e.g., preparative isoelectric focusing), differential solubility (e.g., ammonium sulfate precipitation), SDS-PAGE, or extraction (see, e.g., Protein Purification, Janson and Ryden, editors, VCH Publishers, New York, 1989) to obtain substantially pure polypeptides.

In an alternative aspect, the polypeptide is not recovered, but rather a host cell of the present invention expressing the polypeptide is used as a source of the polypeptide.

Plants

The present invention also relates to isolated plants, e.g., a transgenic plant, plant part, or plant cell, comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention so as to express and produce a polypeptide or domain in recoverable quantities. The polypeptide or domain may be recovered from the plant or plant part. Alternatively, the plant or plant part containing the polypeptide or domain may be used as such for improving the quality of a food or feed, e.g., improving nutritional value, palatability, and rheological properties, or to destroy an antinutritive factor.

The transgenic plant can be dicotyledonous (a dicot) or monocotyledonous (a monocot). Examples of monocot plants are grasses, such as meadow grass (blue grass, Poa), forage grass such as Festuca, Lolium, temperate grass, such as Agrostis, and cereals, e.g., wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, sorghum, and maize (corn).

Examples of dicot plants are tobacco, legumes, such as lupins, potato, sugar beet, pea, bean and soybean, and cruciferous plants (family Brassicaceae), such as cauliflower, rape seed, and the closely related model organism Arabidopsis thaliana.

Examples of plant parts are stem, callus, leaves, root, fruits, seeds, and tubers as well as the individual tissues comprising these parts, e.g., epidermis, mesophyll, parenchyme, vascular tissues, meristems. Specific plant cell compartments, such as chloroplasts, apoplasts, mitochondria, vacuoles, peroxisomes and cytoplasm are also considered to be a plant part. Furthermore, any plant cell, whatever the tissue origin, is considered to be a plant part. Likewise, plant parts such as specific tissues and cells isolated to facilitate the utilization of the invention are also considered plant parts, e.g., embryos, endosperms, aleurone and seed coats.

Also included within the scope of the present invention are the progeny of such plants, plant parts, and plant cells.

The transgenic plant or plant cell expressing the polypeptide or domain may be constructed in accordance with methods known in the art. In short, the plant or plant cell is constructed by incorporating one or more expression constructs encoding the polypeptide or domain into the plant host genome or chloroplast genome and propagating the resulting modified plant or plant cell into a transgenic plant or plant cell.

The expression construct is conveniently a nucleic acid construct that comprises a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide or domain operably linked with appropriate regulatory sequences required for expression of the polynucleotide in the plant or plant part of choice. Furthermore, the expression construct may comprise a selectable marker useful for identifying plant cells into which the expression construct has been integrated and DNA sequences necessary for introduction of the construct into the plant in question (the latter depends on the DNA introduction method to be used).

The choice of regulatory sequences, such as promoter and terminator sequences and optionally signal or transit sequences, is determined, for example, on the basis of when, where, and how the polypeptide or domain is desired to be expressed. For instance, the expression of the gene encoding a polypeptide or domain may be constitutive or inducible, or may be developmental, stage or tissue specific, and the gene product may be targeted to a specific tissue or plant part such as seeds or leaves. Regulatory sequences are, for example, described by Tague et al., 1988, Plant Physiology 86: 506.

For constitutive expression, the 35S-CaMV, the maize ubiquitin 1, or the rice actin 1 promoter may be used (Franck et al., 1980, Cell 21: 285-294; Christensen et al., 1992, Plant Mol. Biol. 18: 675-689; Zhang et al., 1991, Plant Cell 3: 1155-1165). Organ-specific promoters may be, for example, a promoter from storage sink tissues such as seeds, potato tubers, and fruits (Edwards and Coruzzi, 1990, Ann. Rev. Genet. 24: 275-303), or from metabolic sink tissues such as meristems (Ito et al., 1994, Plant Mol. Biol. 24: 863-878), a seed specific promoter such as the glutelin, prolamin, globulin, or albumin promoter from rice (Wu et al., 1998, Plant Cell Physiol. 39: 885-889), a Vicia faba promoter from the legumin B4 and the unknown seed protein gene from Vicia faba (Conrad et al., 1998, J. Plant Physiol. 152: 708-711), a promoter from a seed oil body protein (Chen et al., 1998, Plant Cell Physiol. 39: 935-941), the storage protein napA promoter from Brassica napus, or any other seed specific promoter known in the art, e.g., as described in WO 91/14772. Furthermore, the promoter may be a leaf specific promoter such as the rbcs promoter from rice or tomato (Kyozuka et al., 1993, Plant Physiol. 102: 991-1000), the chlorella virus adenine methyltransferase gene promoter (Mitra and Higgins, 1994, Plant Mol. Biol. 26: 85-93), the aldP gene promoter from rice (Kagaya et al., 1995, Mol. Gen. Genet. 248: 668-674), or a wound inducible promoter such as the potato pin2 promoter (Xu et al., 1993, Plant Mol. Biol. 22: 573-588). Likewise, the promoter may be induced by abiotic treatments such as temperature, drought, or alterations in salinity or induced by exogenously applied substances that activate the promoter, e.g., ethanol, oestrogens, plant hormones such as ethylene, abscisic acid, and gibberellic acid, and heavy metals.

A promoter enhancer element may also be used to achieve higher expression of a polypeptide or domain in the plant. For instance, the promoter enhancer element may be an intron that is placed between the promoter and the polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide or domain. For instance, Xu et al., 1993, supra, disclose the use of the first intron of the rice actin 1 gene to enhance expression.

The selectable marker gene and any other parts of the expression construct may be chosen from those available in the art.

The nucleic acid construct is incorporated into the plant genome according to conventional techniques known in the art, including Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, virus-mediated transformation, microinjection, particle bombardment, biolistic transformation, and electroporation (Gasser et al., 1990, Science 244: 1293; Potrykus, 1990, Bio/Technology 8: 535; Shimamoto et al., 1989, Nature 338: 274).

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated gene transfer is a method for generating transgenic dicots (for a review, see Hooykas and Schilperoort, 1992, Plant Mol. Biol. 19: 15-38) and for transforming monocots, although other transformation methods may be used for these plants. A method for generating transgenic monocots is particle bombardment (microscopic gold or tungsten particles coated with the transforming DNA) of embryonic calli or developing embryos (Christou, 1992, Plant J. 2: 275-281; Shimamoto, 1994, Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 5: 158-162; Vasil et al., 1992, Bio/Technology 10: 667-674). An alternative method for transformation of monocots is based on protoplast transformation as described by Omirulleh et al., 1993, Plant Mol. Biol. 21: 415-428. Additional transformation methods include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,395,966 and 7,151,204 (both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety).

Following transformation, the transformants having incorporated the expression construct are selected and regenerated into whole plants according to methods well known in the art. Often the transformation procedure is designed for the selective elimination of selection genes either during regeneration or in the following generations by using, for example, co-transformation with two separate T-DNA constructs or site specific excision of the selection gene by a specific recombinase.

In addition to direct transformation of a particular plant genotype with a construct of the present invention, transgenic plants may be made by crossing a plant having the construct to a second plant lacking the construct. For example, a construct encoding a polypeptide or domain can be introduced into a particular plant variety by crossing, without the need for ever directly transforming a plant of that given variety. Therefore, the present invention encompasses not only a plant directly regenerated from cells which have been transformed in accordance with the present invention, but also the progeny of such plants. As used herein, progeny may refer to the offspring of any generation of a parent plant prepared in accordance with the present invention. Such progeny may include a DNA construct prepared in accordance with the present invention. Crossing results in the introduction of a transgene into a plant line by cross pollinating a starting line with a donor plant line. Non-limiting examples of such steps are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,151,204.

Plants may be generated through a process of backcross conversion. For example, plants include plants referred to as a backcross converted genotype, line, inbred, or hybrid.

Genetic markers may be used to assist in the introgression of one or more transgenes of the invention from one genetic background into another. Marker assisted selection offers advantages relative to conventional breeding in that it can be used to avoid errors caused by phenotypic variations. Further, genetic markers may provide data regarding the relative degree of elite germplasm in the individual progeny of a particular cross. For example, when a plant with a desired trait which otherwise has a non-agronomically desirable genetic background is crossed to an elite parent, genetic markers may be used to select progeny which not only possess the trait of interest, but also have a relatively large proportion of the desired germplasm. In this way, the number of generations required to introgress one or more traits into a particular genetic background is minimized.

The present invention also relates to methods of producing a polypeptide or domain of the present invention comprising (a) cultivating a transgenic plant or a plant cell comprising a polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide or domain under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide or domain; and (b) recovering the polypeptide or domain.

Uses

Examples of preferred uses of the lysozyme or compositions thereof of the present invention are given below. The dosage of the lysozyme and other conditions under which the lysozyme is used may be determined on the basis of methods known in the art.

The polypeptides of the invention are typically useful at any locus subject to contamination by bacteria, fungi, yeast or algae. Typically, loci are in aqueous systems such as cooling water systems, laundry rinse water, oil systems such as cutting oils, lubricants, oil fields and the like, where it is desired to kill the microorganisms or at least to control their growth. However, the present invention may also be used in all applications for which known lysozymes compositions are useful, such as protection of wood, latex, adhesive, glue, paper, cardboard, textile, leather, plastics, caulking, and feed.

A lysozyme, or a composition thereof, of the present invention may be used in several applications to degrade a material comprising a peptidoglycan or a chitodextrin by treating the material with the lysozyme or composition thereof (see for example Proctor and Cunningham, (1988) Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 26:359-395; Carini et al. (1985) Microbiol. Alimen. Nutr. 3:299-320; Hughey and Johnson (1987) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53:2165-2170; Cunningham et al. (1991) World's Poultry Science Journal 47:141-163).

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention for Cleaning and/or Detergents

A lysozyme of the present invention is preferably incorporated into and/or used together with detergent compositions as described below. When washing is performed repeatedly at temperatures below 60° C. there is an increased risk of malodour in the washing machine (laundry as well as dishwashing) and on the textiles or items washed in the machine. This malodour is likely to be caused by microbial organisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae or other unicellular organisms growing in the washing machine.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a process for laundering of fabrics comprising treating fabrics with a washing solution containing a detergent composition and a lysozyme or a lysozyme composition of the invention. The laundering treatment can for example be carried out in a machine washing process or in a manual washing process. The washing solution can for example be an aqueous washing solution containing the detergent composition and with a pH between 3 and 12.

The fabrics subjected to the methods of the present invention may be conventional washable laundry, for example household laundry. Preferably, the major part of the laundry is garments and fabrics, including knits, wovens, denims, yarns, and towelling, made from cotton, cotton blends or natural or manmade cellulosics (e.g. originating from wood pulp) or blends thereof. Examples of blends are blends of cotton or rayon/viscose with one or more companion material such as wool, synthetic fibers (e.g. polyamide fibers, acrylic fibers, polyester fibers, polyvinyl alcohol fibers, polyvinyl chloride fibers, polyurethane fibers, polyurea fibers, aramid fibers), and cellulose-containing fibers (e.g. rayon/viscose, ramie, flax/linen, jute, cellulose acetate fibers, lyocell).

The present invention provides a method of reducing microbial contamination on a surface, such as a textile garment or hard surface such as metal, plastic or rubber parts in a washing machine or dish washing machine, bathroom tiles, floors, table tops, drains, sinks and washbasin, by treating the microbially contaminated surface with a lysozyme or lysozyme composition of the present invention. Such a treatment is also expected to reduce the malodour on textiles and hard surfaces containing microbial contamination.

The reduction of microbial contamination can be assessed in several ways, for example by letting a panel assess whether the smell has been decreased, alternatively a sample may be taken from the surface and cultivated to assess whether the microbial count has been reduced as a result of the treatment compared to a treatment without lysozyme.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention in Animal Feed

A lysozyme of the invention may also be used in animal feed. In an embodiment, the present invention provides a method for preparing an animal feed composition comprising adding a lysozyme of the present invention to one or more animal feed ingredients. A lysozyme of the present invention may for example be used to stabilize the healthy microflora of animals, in particular livestock such as, but not limited to, sheep, goats, cattle (including, but not limited to, beef cattle, cows, and young calves), deer, pigs or swine (including, but not limited to, piglets, growing pigs, and sows), poultry (including, but not limited to, geese, turkeys, ducks and chicken such as broilers, chicks and layers); horses, moose and rabbits but also in fish (including but not limited to salmon, trout, tilapia, catfish and carps; and crustaceans (including but not limited to shrimps and prawns)) by suppressing growth/intestinal colonization of viral (such as Coronaviridae, Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), Persivirus coursing Bovin virus diarre and likewise), parasitic pathogens (coccidian protozoa, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis) or bacterial pathogens such as Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter coli, C. hyointestinalis and C. jejuni, Yersinia ssp., Treponema suis, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, Lawsonia intracellularis and Salmonella, such as Salmonella enterica, Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Mbandaka. In a preferred embodiment a lysozyme is applied to chicken and has anti-microbial activity against Clostridium perfringens. In a further embodiment a lysozyme of the present invention is used as a feed additive, where it may provide a positive effect on the microbial balance of the chicken digestive tract and in this way improve animal performance.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in animal feed as feed enhancing enzymes that improve feed digestibility to increase the efficiency of its utilization according to WO 00/21381 and WO 04/026334.

In a further embodiment a lysozyme of the present invention may be used as a feed additive, where it may provide a positive effect on the animals digestive tract and in this way improve animal performance in accordance to weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), or improved animal health such as decreased mortality rate. FCR is calculated as the feed intake in g/animal relative to the weight gain in g/animal.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention as Antimicrobial Agents

A lysozyme of the present invention may be used as antimicrobial agents. One aspect of the present invention is a method for reducing microbial contamination, comprising treating a microbial contaminated surface with a lysozyme of the present invention.

To assess whether a lysozyme of the present invention is capable of acting as an antimicrobial agent it can be tested in a turbidity assay. In this assay it is tested whether the lysozyme is capable of degrading microbial cells e.g. a dried substrate of Exiguobacterium undae cells (isolated from a smelly sock) or Micrococcus luteus cells dissolved in buffer or detergent, and thereby reducing the optical density (OD) at for example 540 nm, when compared to a microbial suspension only treated with buffer.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention for Disinfection or as a Disinfectant

A lysozyme of the present invention may be useful as a disinfectant or used for disinfection, e.g. for the treatment of infections in the eye or the mouth, or for cleaning and disinfection of contact lenses, and for preventing or removing biofilm on a surface according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,777,223.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in oral care. For example, lysozyme can be used alone or in combination with other enzymes or even antimicrobial peptides in toothpaste or other oral care products. The polypeptides may be introduced into the oral cavity or applied to an article that is to be introduced into the oral cavity. See for example WO 08/124764.

In general it is contemplated that the polypeptides of the present invention are useful for cleaning, disinfecting or inhibiting microbial growth on any surface. Examples of surfaces, which may advantageously be contacted with the polypeptides of the invention are surfaces of process equipment used e.g. dairies, chemical or pharmaceutical process plants, water sanitation systems, oil processing plants, paper pulp processing plants, water treatment plants, and cooling towers. The polypeptides of the invention should be used in an amount, which is effective for cleaning, disinfecting or inhibiting microbial growth on the surface in question.

The polypeptides of the invention may additionally be used for cleaning surfaces and cooking utensils in food processing plants and in any area in which food is prepared or served such as hospitals, nursing homes and restaurants.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention in Food Applications

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used to selectively inhibit the uncontrolled growth of Clostridium tyrobutyricum during the maturation of cheeses, in particular those made from pressed and cooked curds, e.g. Swiss Cheese, Parmesan, Edam, Gouda, Cheddar, and many others.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in wine making, to control or inhibit microbial contamination.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention as Treatments

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in topical treatment of dystrophic and inflammatory lesions of the skin and soft tissues. See for example Palmieri and Boraldi (1977) Arch. Sci. Med. (Torino) 134:481-485.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in skin care. For example, the polypeptide is applied to the skin of a patient suffering from a skin infection, such as acne. The lysozyme may also be used in a wound dressing, which is applied to wounded skin, for example, to aid in healing of the wound. See, for example, U.S. Application No. 20080254079.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in lipstick, lip balm, lip gel, or lip gloss. For example, such products can be used for treatment of a localized lip infection, for example, a cold sore. See, for example, U.S. Application No. 20080254079.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in the treatment of bronchopulmonary diseases.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used as digestive enzymes or digestive aids. A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used to improve the use of dead/live bacteria as a food source, e.g., by controlling undesirable microbial contaminants.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used as a therapeutic in a human or other animal, e.g., to control or inhibit bacterial overgrowth in the intestines of a human suffering from a disease, e.g., pancreatic disease or an immuno compromised patient.

Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention for Extracting Bacterial Genomic DNA

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used to aid in the extraction of bacterial genomic DNA from both pure cultures and environmental samples containing multiple bacterial species. In order to be able to sequence bacterial DNA, the bacterial cell wall needs to be broken down to isolate the DNA inside it. Hen egg white lysozyme is the standard enzyme used for DNA isolation from gram positive bacteria and works by hydrolyzing the peptidoglycan chains present in the cell wall thereby aiding in the degradation of the cell walls. However some gram positive cell walls are not degraded by hen egg white lysozymes. For example, it is recommended that cells from e.g. Staphylococcus aureus are lysed with lysostaphin as described by Pitcher and Saunders (1989), App. Environ. Microbiol. 56(3): 782-787. However, these methods do not work for all types of gram positive bacteria and novel lysozymes thus potentially offer access to novel genomes that cannot be isolated with commercial lysozyme solutions

Addition of one or more lysozymes of the present invention, optionally together with lysostaphin or hen egg white lysozyme, affords the breakdown of cell walls from bacteria, preferably gram positive bacteria, which is a not possible using current commercial solutions. In an embodiment the lysozyme is a GH25 lysozyme having SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 8 or a variant thereof. In a further embodiment, the lysozyme is effective in breaking down the cell walls of bacteria from bacteria such as Bacillus, Micrococcus, Zobellia, Cellulophaga and Streptomyces. An additional embodiment is bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Zobellia uliginosa, Cellulophaga lytica and Streptomyces mobaraensis. In another embodiment, the lysozyme is effective in combination with hen egg white lysozyme in breaking down the cell walls of bacteria such as Bacillus, Micrococcus, Zobellia, Cellulophaga and Streptomyces, such as Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Zobellia uliginosa, Cellulophaga lytica and Streptomyces mobaraensis. A particular embodiment is breaking down the cell walls from the bacteria Streptomyces mobaraensis.

The lysozyme of the present invention may be used in a compositon or kit to breakdown the cell walls from bacteria, optionally together with lysostaphin or hen egg white lysozyme. The lysozyme component may be a GH25 lysozyme of the present invention or a GH25 lysozyme having SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 8 or a variant thereof.

Other Uses of Lysozymes of the Invention

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used to control microbial growth in a fermentation process, such as, in making ethanol or other products from biomass. See, for example, WO 2007/109750. Accordingly, the lysozyme may be used, e.g., in a process for producing a fermentation product comprising (a) liquefying and/or saccharifying a carbohydrate material and (b) fermenting using a fermentation organism, wherein a lysozyme of the present invention is applied to the fermentation process before, during and/or after fermentation concentrations sufficient to kill and/or inhibit growth of bacterial cells.

A lysozyme of the present invention may also be used in controlling microbial growth in a fish or shrimp farm.

Other uses include preservation of foods, beverages, cosmetics such as lotions, creams, gels, ointments, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, antiperspirants, deodorants, enzyme formulations, or food ingredients.

Compositions

In a still further aspect, the present invention relates to compositions comprising a polypeptide of the present invention having antimicrobial and/or lysozyme activity.

The composition may comprise a polypeptide of the invention as the major enzymatic component, e.g., a mono-component composition. Alternatively, the composition may comprise multiple enzymatic activities, such as an aminopeptidase, amylase, carbohydrase, carboxypeptidase, catalase, cellulase, chitinase, cutinase, cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase, deoxyribonuclease, esterase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase, glucoamylase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase, haloperoxidase, invertase, laccase, lipase, mannosidase, oxidase, pectinolytic enzyme, peptidoglutaminase, peroxidase, phytase, polyphenoloxidase, proteolytic enzyme, ribonuclease, transglutaminase, or xylanase.

The compositions may be prepared in accordance with methods known in the art and may be in the form of a liquid or a dry composition. For instance, the polypeptide composition may be in the form of a granulate or a microgranulate. The polypeptide to be included in the composition may be stabilized in accordance with methods known in the art.

Examples are given below of preferred uses of the polypeptide compositions of the invention. The dosage of the polypeptide composition of the invention and other conditions under which the composition is used may be determined on the basis of methods known in the art.

Bacterial Genomic DNA Extraction Composition

The lysozyme of the invention may be added to and thus become a component of a composition to extract genomic DNA from bacteria. The lysozyme may additionally be used in combination with one or more further lysozymes, such as but not limited to lysostaphin, mutanolysin or hen egg white lysozyme. The composition may form part of a kit which can be mixed together according to a set of instructions to extract the genomic DNA from bacteria. The kit may contain a buffer, one or more metal ion binders such as EDTA, a protease such as proteinases K, a detergent such as SDS or Triton X and one or more lysozymes, such as the GH25 lysozyme of the invention, lysostaphin, mutanolysin or hen egg white lysozyme. The bacterial genomic DNA may be extracted from both pure cultures and environmental samples containing multiple bacterial species. A preferred embodiment is a GH25 lysozyme having SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 8 or a variant thereof.

Animal Feed Compositions

The present invention is also directed to methods for using the polypeptides of the present invention having lysozyme activity in animal feed, as well as to feed compositions and feed additives comprising the lysozymes of the invention.

The term animal includes all animals, including human beings. Examples of animals are non-ruminants, and ruminants. Ruminant animals include, for example, animals such as sheep, goats, and cattle, e.g. beef cattle and cows. In a particular embodiment, the animal is a non-ruminant animal. Non-ruminant animals include mono-gastric animals, e.g. pigs or swine (including, but not limited to, piglets, growing pigs, and sows); poultry such as turkeys, geese, ducks and chicken (including but not limited to broiler chicks, layers); horses (including but not limited to hotbloods, coldbloods and warm bloods), young calves; and fish (including but not limited to salmon, trout, tilapia, catfish and carps; and crustaceans (including but not limited to shrimps and prawns).

The term feed or feed composition means any compound, preparation, mixture, or composition suitable for, or intended for intake by an animal. In the use according to the invention the lysozyme can be fed to the animal before, after, or simultaneously with the diet. The latter is preferred. Such lysozyme compositions may of course be mixed with other enzymes.

The lysozyme can be added to the feed in any form, be it as a relatively pure lysozyme or in admixture with other components intended for addition to animal feed, i.e. in the form of animal feed additives, such as the so-called pre-mixes for animal feed. In a further aspect the present invention relates to compositions for use in animal feed, such as animal feed, and animal feed additives, e.g. premixes.

Apart from the lysozyme of the invention, the animal feed additives of the invention contain at least one fat-soluble vitamin, and/or at least one water soluble vitamin, and/or at least one trace mineral, and/or at least one macro mineral.

Further, optional, feed-additive ingredients are colouring agents, e.g. carotenoids such as beta-carotene, astaxanthin, and lutein; stabilisers; growth improving additives and aroma compounds/flavorings, e.g. creosol, anethol, deca-, undeca- and/or dodeca-lactones, ionones, irone, gingerol, piperidine, propylidene phthalide, butylidene phatalide, capsaicin and/or tannin; polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs); reactive oxygen generating species; also, a support may be used that may contain, for example, 40-50% by weight of wood fibres, 8-10% by weight of stearine, 4-5% by weight of curcuma powder, 4-58% by weight of rosemary powder, 22-28% by weight of limestone, 1-3% by weight of a gum, such as gum arabic, 5-50% by weight of sugar and/or starch and 5-15% by weight of water.

A feed or a feed additive of the invention may also comprise at least one other enzyme selected from amongst phytase (EC 3.1.3.8 or 3.1.3.26); xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8); galactanase (EC 3.2.1.89); alpha-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.22); protease (EC 3.4), phospholipase A1 (EC 3.1.1.32);

phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4); lysophospholipase (EC 3.1.1.5); phospholipase C (3.1.4.3); phospholipase D (EC 3.1.4.4); amylase such as, for example, alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1); and/or beta-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4 or EC 3.2.1.6).

Examples of polyunsaturated fatty acids are C18, C20 and C22 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid, docosohexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and gamma-linoleic acid.

Examples of reactive oxygen generating species are chemicals such as perborate, persulphate, or percarbonate; and enzymes such as an oxidase, an oxygenase or a syntethase.

Usally fat- and water-soluble vitamins, as well as trace minerals form part of a so-called premix intended for addition to the feed, whereas macro minerals are usually separately added to the feed. Either of these composition types, when enriched with a protease of the invention, is an animal feed additive of the invention.

In a particular embodiment, the animal feed additive of the invention is intended for being included (or prescribed as having to be included) in animal diets or animal feed at levels of 0.1 ppm to 1000 ppm, preferably 0.5 ppm to 200 ppm and more preferably 1 ppm to 100 ppm. The aforementioned dosing levels can also be used for premixes.

The animal feed composition of the invention may contain at least one vegetable protein, such as that derived from or originating from a vegetable, including modified proteins and protein-derivatives. Vegetable proteins may be derived from vegetable protein sources, such as legumes and cereals, for example materials from plants of the families Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Cruciferaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Poaceae, such as soy bean meal, lupin meal and rapeseed meal, Alternateively, the vegetable protein source is material from one or more plants of the family Chenopodiaceae, e.g. beet, sugar beet, spinach or quinoa. Other examples of vegetable protein sources are rapeseed, sunflower seed, cotton seed, and cabbage and cereals such as barley, wheat, rye, oat, maize (corn), rice, triticale, and sorghum.

The animal feed composition of the invention may also contain animal protein, such as Meat and Bone Meal, Feather meal, and/or Fish Meal, typically in an amount of 0-25%. The animal feed composition of the invention may also comprise Dried Destillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS), typically in amounts of 0-30%.

In still further particular embodiments, the animal feed composition of the invention contains 0-80% maize; and/or 0-80% sorghum; and/or 0-70% wheat; and/or 0-70% Barley; and/or 0-30% oats; and/or 0-40% soybean meal; and/or 0-25% fish meal; and/or 0-25% meat and bone meal; and/or 0-20% whey.

Animal diets can e.g. be manufactured as mash feed (non pelleted) or pelleted feed. Typically, the milled feed-stuffs are mixed and sufficient amounts of essential vitamins and minerals are added according to the specifications for the species in question. Enzymes can be added as solid or liquid enzyme formulations. For example, for mash feed a solid or liquid enzyme formulation may be added before or during the ingredient mixing step. For pelleted feed the (liquid or solid) lysozyme/enzyme preparation may also be added before or during the feed ingredient step. Typically a liquid lysozyme/enzyme preparation is added after the pelleting step. The enzyme may also be incorporated in a feed additive or premix.

The final enzyme concentration in the diet is within the range of 0.01-200 mg enzyme protein per kg diet, for example in the range of 0.5-25 mg enzyme protein per kg animal diet.

Cleaning or Detergent Compositions

The lysozyme of the invention may be added to and thus become a component of a detergent composition, particularly in a liquid detergent having a pH of 7 or lower.

The detergent composition of the invention may for example be formulated as a hand or machine laundry detergent composition including a laundry additive composition suitable for pretreatment of stained fabrics and a rinse added fabric softener composition, or be formulated as a detergent composition for use in general household hard surface cleaning operations, or be formulated for hand or machine dishwashing operations.

In a specific aspect, the invention provides a detergent additive comprising the lysozyme of the invention. The detergent additive as well as the detergent composition may comprise one or more other enzymes such as a protease, a lipase, a cutinase, an amylase, a carbohydrase, a cellulase, a pectinase, a mannanase, an arabinase, a galactanase, a xylanase, an oxidase, e.g., a laccase, and/or a peroxidase.

In general the properties of the chosen enzyme(s) should be compatible with the selected detergent, (i.e. pH-optimum, compatibility with other enzymatic and non-enzymatic ingredients, etc.), and the enzyme(s) should be present in effective amounts.

In one embodiment, the invention is directed to cleaning or detergent compositions comprising of an enzyme of the present invention in combination with one or more additional cleaning components. The choice of additional cleaning components is within the skill of the artisan and includes conventional ingredients, including the exemplary non-limiting components set forth below.

The choice of components may include, for textile care, the consideration of the type of textile to be cleaned, the type and/or degree of soiling, the temperature at which cleaning is to take place, and the formulation of the detergent product. Although the components mentioned below are categorized according to a particular function, this should not be construed as a limitation since the component may have one or more additional functionalities which the skilled artisan will appreciate.

The cleaning or detergent composition may be suitable for the laundring of textiles such as e.g. fabrics, cloths or linen, or for cleaning hard surfaces such as e.g. floors, tables, or dish wash.

The invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides.

Surfactants

The detergent composition may comprise one or more surfactants, which may be anionic and/or cationic and/or non-ionic and/or semi-polar and/or zwitterionic, or a mixture thereof. In a particular embodiment, the detergent composition includes a mixture of one or more nonionic surfactants and one or more anionic surfactants. The surfactant(s) is typically present at a level of from about 0.1% to 60% by weight, such as about 1% to about 40%, or about 3% to about 20%, or about 3% to about 10%. The surfactant(s) is chosen based on the desired cleaning application, and includes any conventional surfactant(s) known in the art. Any surfactant known in the art for use in detergents may be utilized.

When included therein the detergent will usually contain from about 1% to about 40% by weight, such as from about 5% to about 30%, including from about 5% to about 15%, or from about 20% to about 25% of an anionic surfactant. Non-limiting examples of anionic surfactants include sulfates and sulfonates, in particular, linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS), isomers of LAS, branched alkylbenzenesulfonates (BABS), phenylalkanesulfonates, alpha-olefinsulfonates (AOS), olefin sulfonates, alkene sulfonates, alkane-2,3-diylbis(sulfates), hydroxyalkanesulfonates and disulfonates, alkyl sulfates (AS) such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), fatty alcohol sulfates (FAS), primary alcohol sulfates (PAS), alcohol ethersulfates (AES or AEOS or FES, also known as alcohol ethoxysulfates or fatty alcohol ether sulfates), secondary alkanesulfonates (SAS), paraffin sulfonates (PS), ester sulfonates, sulfonated fatty acid glycerol esters, alpha-sulfo fatty acid methyl esters (alpha-SFMe or SES) including methyl ester sulfonate (MES), alkyl- or alkenylsuccinic acid, dodecenyl/tetradecenyl succinic acid (DTSA), fatty acid derivatives of amino acids, diesters and monoesters of sulfo-succinic acid or soap, and combinations thereof.

When included therein the detergent will usually contain from about 0% to about 10% by weight of a cationic surfactant. Non-limiting examples of cationic surfactants include alklydimethylethanolamine quat (ADMEAQ), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), dimethyldistearylammonium chloride (DSDMAC), and alkylbenzyldimethylammonium, alkyl quaternary ammonium compounds, alkoxylated quaternary ammonium (AQA) compounds, and combinations thereof.

When included therein the detergent will usually contain from about 0.2% to about 40% by weight of a non-ionic surfactant, for example from about 0.5% to about 30%, in particular from about 1% to about 20%, from about 3% to about 10%, such as from about 3% to about 5%, or from about 8% to about 12%. Non-limiting examples of non-ionic surfactants include alcohol ethoxylates (AE or AEO), alcohol propoxylates, propoxylated fatty alcohols (PFA), alkoxylated fatty acid alkyl esters, such as ethoxylated and/or propoxylated fatty acid alkyl esters, alkylphenol ethoxylates (APE), nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE), alkylpolyglycosides (APG), alkoxylated amines, fatty acid monoethanolamides (FAM), fatty acid diethanolamides (FADA), ethoxylated fatty acid monoethanolamides (EFAM), propoxylated fatty acid monoethanolamides (PFAM), polyhydroxy alkyl fatty acid amides, or N-acyl N-alkyl derivatives of glucosamine (glucamides, GA, or fatty acid glucamide, FAGA), as well as products available under the trade names SPAN and TWEEN, and combinations thereof.

When included therein the detergent will usually contain from about 0% to about 10% by weight of a semipolar surfactant. Non-limiting examples of semipolar surfactants include amine oxides (AO) such as alkyldimethylamineoxide, N-(coco alkyl)-N,N-dimethylamine oxide and N-(tallow-alkyl)-N, N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine oxide, fatty acid alkanolamides and ethoxylated fatty acid alkanolamides, and combinations thereof.

When included therein the detergent will usually contain from about 0% to about 10% by weight of a zwitterionic surfactant. Non-limiting examples of zwitterionic surfactants include betaine, alkyldimethylbetaine, sulfobetaine, and combinations thereof.

Hydrotropes

A hydrotrope is a compound that solubilises hydrophobic compounds in aqueous solutions (or oppositely, polar substances in a non-polar environment). Typically, hydrotropes have both hydrophilic and a hydrophobic character (so-called amphiphilic properties as known from surfactants); however the molecular structure of hydrotropes generally do not favor spontaneous self-aggregation, see e.g. review by Hodgdon and Kaler (2007), Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 12: 121-128. Hydrotropes do not display a critical concentration above which self-aggregation occurs as found for surfactants and lipids forming miceller, lamellar or other well defined meso-phases. Instead, many hydrotropes show a continuous-type aggregation process where the sizes of aggregates grow as concentration increases. However, many hydrotropes alter the phase behavior, stability, and colloidal properties of systems containing substances of polar and non-polar character, including mixtures of water, oil, surfactants, and polymers. Hydrotropes are classically used across industries from pharma, personal care, food, to technical applications. Use of hydrotropes in detergent compositions allow for example more concentrated formulations of surfactants (as in the process of compacting liquid detergents by removing water) without inducing undesired phenomena such as phase separation or high viscosity.

The detergent may contain 0-5% by weight, such as about 0.5 to about 5%, or about 3% to about 5%, of a hydrotrope. Any hydrotrope known in the art for use in detergents may be utilized. Non-limiting examples of hydrotropes include sodium benzene sulfonate, sodium p-toluene sulfonate (STS), sodium xylene sulfonate (SXS), sodium cumene sulfonate (SCS), sodium cymene sulfonate, amine oxides, alcohols and polyglycolethers, sodium hydroxynaphthoate, sodium hydroxynaphthalene sulfonate, sodium ethylhexyl sulfate, and combinations thereof.

Builders and Co-Builders

The detergent composition may contain about 0-65% by weight, such as about 5% to about 45% of a detergent builder or co-builder, or a mixture thereof. In a dish wash deteregent, the level of builder is typically 40-65%, particularly 50-65%. The builder and/or co-builder may particularly be a chelating agent that forms water-soluble complexes with Ca and Mg. Any builder and/or co-builder known in the art for use in laundry detergents may be utilized. Non-limiting examples of builders include zeolites, diphosphates (pyrophosphates), triphosphates such as sodium triphosphate (STP or STPP), carbonates such as sodium carbonate, soluble silicates such as sodium metasilicate, layered silicates (e.g., SKS-6 from Hoechst), ethanolamines such as 2-aminoethan-1-ol (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA, also known as iminodiethanol), triethanolamine (TEA, also known as 2,2′,2″-nitrilotriethanol), and carboxymethyl inulin (CMI), and combinations thereof.

The detergent composition may also contain 0-20% by weight, such as about 5% to about 10%, of a detergent co-builder, or a mixture thereof. The detergent composition may include include a co-builder alone, or in combination with a builder, for example a zeolite builder. Non-limiting examples of co-builders include homopolymers of polyacrylates or copolymers thereof, such as poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or copoly(acrylic acid/maleic acid) (PAA/PMA). Further non-limiting examples include citrate, chelators such as am inocarboxylates, am inopolycarboxylates and phosphonates, and alkyl- or alkenylsuccinic acid. Additional specific examples include 2,2′,2″-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), iminodisuccinic acid (IDS), ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid (EDDS), methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA), glutamic acid-N,N-diacetic acid (GLDA), 1-hydroxyethane-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP), ethylenediaminetetra-(methylenephosphonic acid) (EDTMPA), diethylenetriaminepentakis(methylenephosphonic acid) (DTPMPA or DTMPA), N-(2-hydroxyethyl)iminodiacetic acid (EDG), aspartic acid-N-monoacetic acid (ASMA), aspartic acid-N,N-diacetic acid (ASDA), aspartic acid-N-monopropionic acid (ASMP), iminodisuccinic acid (IDA), N-(2-sulfomethyl)-aspartic acid (SMAS), N-(2-sulfoethyl)-aspartic acid (SEAS), N-(2-sulfomethyl)-glutamic acid (SMGL), N-(2-sulfoethyl)-glutamic acid (SEGL), N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA), α-alanine-N, N-diacetic acid (α-ALDA), serine-N, N-diacetic acid (SEDA), isoserine-N, N-diacetic acid (ISDA), phenylalanine-N, N-diacetic acid (PHDA), anthranilic acid-N, N-diacetic acid (ANDA), sulfanilic acid-N, N-diacetic acid (SLDA), taurine-N, N-diacetic acid (TUDA) and sulfomethyl-N, N-diacetic acid (SMDA), N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-ethylidenediamine-N,N′,N′-triacetate (HEDTA), diethanolglycine (DEG), diethylenetriamine penta(methylenephosphonic acid) (DTPMP), aminotris(methylenephosphonic acid) (ATMP), and combinations and salts thereof. Further exemplary builders and/or co-builders are described in, e.g., WO 09/102854, U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,053

Bleaching Systems

The detergent may contain 0-50% by weight, such as about 0.1% to about 25%, of a bleaching system. Any bleaching system known in the art for use in laundry detergents may be utilized. Suitable bleaching system components include bleaching catalysts, photobleaches, bleach activators, sources of hydrogen peroxide such as sodium percarbonate and sodium perborates, preformed peracids and mixtures thereof. Suitable preformed peracids include, but are not limited to, peroxycarboxylic acids and salts, percarbonic acids and salts, perimidic acids and salts, peroxymonosulfuric acids and salts, for example, Oxone (R), and mixtures thereof. Non-limiting examples of bleaching systems include peroxide-based bleaching systems, which may comprise, for example, an inorganic salt, including alkali metal salts such as sodium salts of perborate (usually mono- or tetra-hydrate), percarbonate, persulfate, perphosphate, persilicate salts, in combination with a peracid-forming bleach activator. The term bleach activator is meant herein as a compound which reacts with peroxygen bleach like hydrogen peroxide to form a peracid. The peracid thus formed constitutes the activated bleach. Suitable bleach activators to be used herein include those belonging to the class of esters amides, imides or anhydrides. Suitable examples are tetracetylethylene diamine (TAED), sodium 4-[(3,5,5-trimethylhexanoyl)oxy]benzene sulfonate (ISONOBS), diperoxy dodecanoic acid, 4-(dodecanoyloxy)benzenesulfonate (LOBS), 4-(decanoyloxy)benzenesulfonate, 4-(decanoyloxy)benzoate (DOBS), 4-(nonanoyloxy)-benzenesulfonate (NOBS), and/or those disclosed in WO98/17767. A particular family of bleach activators of interest was disclosed in EP624154 and particulary preferred in that family is acetyl triethyl citrate (ATC). ATC or a short chain triglyceride like triacetin has the advantage that it is environmental friendly as it eventually degrades into citric acid and alcohol. Furthermore acetyl triethyl citrate and triacetin has a good hydrolytical stability in the product upon storage and it is an efficient bleach activator. Finally ATC provides a good building capacity to the laundry additive. Alternatively, the bleaching system may comprise peroxyacids of, for example, the amide, imide, or sulfone type. The bleaching system may also comprise peracids such as 6-(phthalimido)peroxyhexanoic acid (PAP). The bleaching system may also include a bleach catalyst. In some embodiments the bleach component may be an organic catalyst selected from the group consisting of organic catalysts having the following formulae:

(iii) and mixtures thereof; wherein each R¹ is independently a branched alkyl group containing from 9 to 24 carbons or linear alkyl group containing from 11 to 24 carbons, preferably each R¹ is independently a branched alkyl group containing from 9 to 18 carbons or linear alkyl group containing from 11 to 18 carbons, more preferably each R¹ is independently selected from the group consisting of 2-propylheptyl, 2-butyloctyl, 2-pentylnonyl, 2-hexyldecyl, n-dodecyl, n-tetradecyl, n-hexadecyl, n-octadecyl, iso-nonyl, iso-decyl, iso-tridecyl and iso-pentadecyl. Other exemplary bleaching systems are described, e.g. in WO2007/087258, WO2007/087244, WO2007/087259 and WO2007/087242. Suitable photobleaches may for example be sulfonated zinc phthalocyanine

Polymers

The detergent may contain 0-10% by weight, such as 0.5-5%, 2-5%, 0.5-2% or 0.2-1% of a polymer. Any polymer known in the art for use in detergents may be utilized. The polymer may function as a co-builder as mentioned above, or may provide antiredeposition, fiber protection, soil release, dye transfer inhibition, grease cleaning and/or anti-foaming properties. Some polymers may have more than one of the above-mentioned properties and/or more than one of the below-mentioned motifs. Exemplary polymers include (carboxymethyl)cellulose (CMC), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(ethyleneglycol) or poly(ethylene oxide) (PEG), ethoxylated poly(ethyleneimine), carboxymethyl inulin (CMI), and polycarboxylates such as PAA, PAA/PMA, poly-aspartic acid, and lauryl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymers, hydrophobically modified CMC (HM-CMC) and silicones, copolymers of terephthalic acid and oligomeric glycols, copolymers of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(oxyethene terephthalate) (PET-POET), PVP, poly(vinylimidazole) (PVI), poly(vinylpyridine-N-oxide) (PVPO or PVPNO) and polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinylimidazole (PVPVI). Further exemplary polymers include sulfonated polycarboxylates, polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide (PEO-PPO) and diquaternium ethoxy sulfate. Other exemplary polymers are disclosed in, e.g., WO 2006/130575. Salts of the above-mentioned polymers are also contemplated.

Fabric Hueing Agents

The detergent compositions of the present invention may also include fabric hueing agents such as dyes or pigments, which when formulated in detergent compositions can deposit onto a fabric when said fabric is contacted with a wash liquor comprising said detergent compositions and thus altering the tint of said fabric through absorption/reflection of visible light. Fluorescent whitening agents emit at least some visible light. In contrast, fabric hueing agents alter the tint of a surface as they absorb at least a portion of the visible light spectrum. Suitable fabric hueing agents include dyes and dye-clay conjugates, and may also include pigments. Suitable dyes include small molecule dyes and polymeric dyes. Suitable small molecule dyes include small molecule dyes selected from the group consisting of dyes falling into the Colour Index (C.I.) classifications of Direct Blue, Direct Red, Direct Violet, Acid Blue, Acid Red, Acid Violet, Basic Blue, Basic Violet and Basic Red, or mixtures thereof, for example as described in WO2005/03274, WO2005/03275, WO2005/03276 and EP1876226 (hereby incorporated by reference). The detergent composition preferably comprises from about 0.00003 wt % to about 0.2 wt %, from about 0.00008 wt % to about 0.05 wt %, or even from about 0.0001 wt % to about 0.04 wt % fabric hueing agent. The composition may comprise from 0.0001 wt % to 0.2 wt % fabric hueing agent, this may be especially preferred when the composition is in the form of a unit dose pouch. Suitable hueing agents are also disclosed in, e.g. WO 2007/087257 and WO2007/087243.

Additional Enzymes

In one aspect, the present invention provides a detergent additive comprising a lysozyme of the present invention. The detergent additive as well as the detergent composition may comprise one or more [additional] enzymes such as a protease, lipase, cutinase, an amylase, carbohydrase, cellulase, pectinase, mannanase, arabinase, galactanase, xylanase, oxidase, e.g., a laccase, and/or peroxidase.

In general the properties of the selected enzyme(s) should be compatible with the selected detergent, (i.e., pH-optimum, compatibility with other enzymatic and non-enzymatic ingredients, etc.), and the enzyme(s) should be present in effective amounts.

Cellulases:

Suitable cellulases include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Suitable cellulases include cellulases from the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Humicola, Fusarium, Thielavia, Acremonium, e.g., the fungal cellulases produced from Humicola insolens, Myceliophthora thermophila and Fusarium oxysporum disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,307, U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,263, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,178, U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,757 and WO 89/09259.

Especially suitable cellulases are the alkaline or neutral cellulases having color care benefits. Examples of such cellulases are cellulases described in EP 0 495 257, EP 0 531 372, WO 96/11262, WO 96/29397, WO 98/08940. Other examples are cellulase variants such as those described in WO 94/07998, EP 0 531 315, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,046, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,593, U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,254, WO 95/24471, WO 98/12307 and PCT/DK98/00299.

Commercially available cellulases include Celluzyme™, and Carezyme™ (Novozymes NS), Clazinase™, and Puradax HA™ (Genencor International Inc.), and KAC-500(B)™ (Kao Corporation).

Proteases:

Suitable proteases include those of animal, vegetable or microbial origin. Microbial origin is preferred. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. The protease may be a serine protease or a metalloprotease, preferably an alkaline microbial protease or a trypsin-like protease. Examples of alkaline proteases are subtilisins, especially those derived from Bacillus, e.g., subtilisin Novo, subtilisin Carlsberg, subtilisin 309, subtilisin 147 and subtilisin 168 (described in WO 89/06279). Examples of trypsin-like proteases are trypsin (e.g., of porcine or bovine origin) and the Fusarium protease described in WO 89/06270 and WO 94/25583.

Examples of useful proteases are the variants described in WO 92/19729, WO 98/20115, WO 98/20116, and WO 98/34946, especially the variants with substitutions in one or more of the following positions: 27, 36, 57, 76, 87, 97, 101, 104, 120, 123, 167, 170, 194, 206, 218, 222, 224, 235, and 274.

Preferred commercially available protease enzymes include Alcalase™, Savinase™ Primase™, Duralase™, Esperase™, and Kannase™ (Novozymes NS), Maxatase™, Maxacal™ Maxapem™, Properase™, Purafect™, Purafect OxP™, FN2™, and FN3™ (Genencor International Inc.).

Lipases and Cutinases:

Suitable lipases and cutinases include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutant enzymes are included. Examples include lipase from Thermomyces, e.g. from T. lanuginosus (previously named Humicola lanuginosa) as described in EP258068 and EP305216, cutinase from Humicola, e.g. H. insolens (WO96/13580), lipase from strains of Pseudomonas (some of these now renamed to Burkholderia), e.g. P. alcaligenes or P. pseudoalcaligenes (EP218272), P. cepacia (EP331376), P. sp. strain SD705 (WO95/06720 & WO96/27002), P. wisconsinensis (WO96/12012), GDSL-type Streptomyces lipases (WO10/065455), cutinase from Magnaporthe grisea (WO10/107560), cutinase from Pseudomonas mendocina (U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,536), lipase from Thermobifida fusca (WO11/084412), Geobacillus stearothermophilus lipase (WO11/084417), lipase from Bacillus subtilis (WO11/084599), and lipase from Streptomyces griseus (WO11/150157) and S. pristinaespiralis (WO12/137147).

Other examples are lipase variants such as those described in EP407225, WO92/05249, WO94/01541, WO94/25578, WO95/14783, WO95/30744, WO95/35381, WO95/22615, WO96/00292, WO97/04079, WO97/07202, WO00/34450, WO00/60063, WO01/92502, WO07/87508 and WO09/109500.

Preferred commercial lipase products include include Lipolase™, Lipex™; Lipolex™ and Lipoclean™ (Novozymes NS), Lumafast (originally from Genencor) and Lipomax (originally from Gist-Brocades).

Still other examples are lipases sometimes referred to as acyltransferases or perhydrolases, e.g. acyltransferases with homology to Candida antarctica lipase A (WO10/111143), acyltransferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (WO05/56782), perhydrolases from the CE 7 family (WO09/67279), and variants of the M. smegmatis perhydrolase in particular the S54V variant used in the commercial product Gentle Power Bleach from Huntsman Textile Effects Pte Ltd (WO10/100028).

Amylases:

Suitable amylases (α and/or β) include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Amylases include, for example, α-amylases obtained from Bacillus, e.g., a special strain of Bacillus licheniformis, described in more detail in GB 1,296,839.

Examples of useful amylases are the variants described in WO 94/02597, WO 94/18314, WO 96/23873, and WO 97/43424, especially the variants with substitutions in one or more of the following positions: 15, 23, 105, 106, 124, 128, 133, 154, 156, 181, 188, 190, 197, 202, 208, 209, 243, 264, 304, 305, 391, 408, and 444. Commercially available amylases are Duramyl™, Termamyl™, Fungamyl™, Stainzyme Natalase™ and BAN™ (Novozymes NS), Rapidase™ and Purastar™ (from Genencor International Inc.).

Peroxidases/Oxidases:

Suitable peroxidases/oxidases include those of plant, bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Examples of useful peroxidases include peroxidases from Coprinus, e.g., from C. cinereus, and variants thereof as those described in WO 93/24618, WO 95/10602, and WO 98/15257. Commercially available peroxidases include Guardzyme™ (Novozymes NS).

The detergent enzyme(s) may be included in a detergent composition by adding separate additives containing one or more enzymes, or by adding a combined additive comprising all of these enzymes. A detergent additive of the invention, i.e., a separate additive or a combined additive, can be formulated, for example, as a granulate, liquid, slurry, etc. Preferred detergent additive formulations are granulates, in particular non-dusting granulates, liquids, in particular stabilized liquids, or slurries.

Non-dusting granulates may be produced, e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,106,991 and 4,661,452 and may optionally be coated by methods known in the art. Examples of waxy coating materials are poly(ethylene oxide) products (polyethyleneglycol, PEG) with mean molar weights of 1000 to 20000; ethoxylated nonylphenols having from 16 to 50 ethylene oxide units; ethoxylated fatty alcohols in which the alcohol contains from 12 to 20 carbon atoms and in which there are 15 to 80 ethylene oxide units; fatty alcohols; fatty acids; and mono- and di- and triglycerides of fatty acids. Examples of film-forming coating materials suitable for application by fluid bed techniques are given in GB 1483591. Liquid enzyme preparations may, for instance, be stabilized by adding a polyol such as propylene glycol, a sugar or sugar alcohol, lactic acid or boric acid according to established methods. Protected enzymes may be prepared according to the method disclosed in EP 238,216.

Adjunct Materials

Any detergent components known in the art for use in laundry detergents may also be utilized. Other optional detergent components include anti-corrosion agents, anti-shrink agents, anti-soil redeposition agents, anti-wrinkling agents, bactericides, binders, corrosion inhibitors, disintegrants/disintegration agents, dyes, enzyme stabilizers (including boric acid, borates, CMC, and/or polyols such as propylene glycol), fabric conditioners including clays, fillers/processing aids, fluorescent whitening agents/optical brighteners, foam boosters, foam (suds) regulators, perfumes, soil-suspending agents, softeners, suds suppressors, tarnish inhibitors, and wicking agents, either alone or in combination. Any ingredient known in the art for use in laundry detergents may be utilized. The choice of such ingredients is well within the skill of the artisan.

Dispersants:

The detergent compositions of the present invention can also contain dispersants. In particular powdered detergents may comprise dispersants. Suitable water-soluble organic materials include the homo- or co-polymeric acids or their salts, in which the polycarboxylic acid comprises at least two carboxyl radicals separated from each other by not more than two carbon atoms. Suitable dispersants are for example described in Powdered Detergents, Surfactant science series volume 71, Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Dye Transfer Inhibiting Agents:

The detergent compositions of the present invention may also include one or more dye transfer inhibiting agents. Suitable polymeric dye transfer inhibiting agents include, but are not limited to, polyvinylpyrrolidone polymers, polyamine N-oxide polymers, copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone and N-vinylimidazole, polyvinyloxazolidones and polyvinylimidazoles or mixtures thereof. When present in a subject composition, the dye transfer inhibiting agents may be present at levels from about 0.0001% to about 10%, from about 0.01% to about 5% or even from about 0.1% to about 3% by weight of the composition.

Fluorescent Whitening Agent:

The detergent compositions of the present invention will preferably also contain additional components that may tint articles being cleaned, such as fluorescent whitening agent or optical brighteners. Where present the brightener is preferably at a level of about 0.01% to about 0.5%. Any fluorescent whitening agent suitable for use in a laundry detergent composition may be used in the composition of the present invention. The most commonly used fluorescent whitening agents are those belonging to the classes of diaminostilbene-sulphonic acid derivatives, diarylpyrazoline derivatives and bisphenyl-distyryl derivatives. Examples of the diaminostilbene-sulphonic acid derivative type of fluorescent whitening agents include the sodium salts of: 4,4′-bis-(2-diethanolamino-4-anilino-s-triazin-6-ylamino) stilbene-2,2′-disulphonate; 4,4′-bis-(2,4-dianilino-s-triazin-6-ylamino) stilbene-2.2′-disulphonate; 4,4′-bis-(2-anilino-4(N-methyl-N-2-hydroxy-ethylamino)-s-triazin-6-ylamino) stilbene-2,2′-disulphonate, 4,4′-bis-(4-phenyl-2,1,3-triazol-2-yl)stilbene-2,2′-disulphonate; 4,4′-bis-(2-anilino-4(1-methyl-2-hydroxy-ethylamino)-s-triazin-6-ylamino) stilbene-2,2′-disulphonate and 2-(stilbyl-4″-naptho-1,2′:4,5)-1,2,3-trizole-2″-sulphonate. Preferred fluorescent whitening agents are Tinopal DMS and Tinopal CBS available from Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland. Tinopal DMS is the disodium salt of 4,4′-bis-(2-morpholino-4 anilino-s-triazin-6-ylamino) stilbene disulphonate. Tinopal CBS is the disodium salt of 2,2′-bis-(phenyl-styryl) disulphonate. Also preferred are fluorescent whitening agents is the commercially available Parawhite KX, supplied by Paramount Minerals and Chemicals, Mumbai, India. Other fluorescers suitable for use in the invention include the 1-3-diaryl pyrazolines and the 7-alkylaminocoumarins. Suitable fluorescent brightener levels include lower levels of from about 0.01, from 0.05, from about 0.1 or even from about 0.2 wt % to upper levels of 0.5 or even 0.75 wt %.

Soil Release Polymers:

The detergent compositions of the present invention may also include one or more soil release polymers which aid the removal of soils from fabrics such as cotton and polyester based fabrics, in particular the removal of hydrophobic soils from polyester based fabrics. The soil release polymers may for example be nonionic or anionic terephthalte based polymers, polyvinyl caprolactam and related copolymers, vinyl graft copolymers, polyester polyamides see for example Chapter 7 in Powdered Detergents, Surfactant science series volume 71, Marcel Dekker, Inc. Another type of soil release polymers are amphiphilic alkoxylated grease cleaning polymers comprising a core structure and a plurality of alkoxylate groups attached to that core structure. The core structure may comprise a polyalkylenimine structure or a polyalkanolamine structure as described in detail in WO 2009/087523 (hereby incorporated by reference). Furthermore random graft co-polymers are suitable soil release polymers Suitable graft co-polymers are described in more detail in WO 2007/138054, WO 2006/108856 and WO 2006/113314 (hereby incorporated by reference). Other soil release polymers are substituted polysaccharide structures especially substituted cellulosic structures such as modified cellulose deriviatives such as those described in EP 1867808 or WO 2003/040279 (both are hereby incorporated by reference). Suitable cellulosic polymers include cellulose, cellulose ethers, cellulose esters, cellulose amides and mixtures thereof. Suitable cellulosic polymers include anionically modified cellulose, nonionically modified cellulose, cationically modified cellulose, zwitterionically modified cellulose, and mixtures thereof. Suitable cellulosic polymers include methyl cellulose, carboxy methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyl ethyl cellulose, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, ester carboxy methyl cellulose, and mixtures thereof.

Anti-Redeposition Agents:

The detergent compositions of the present invention may also include one or more anti-redeposition agents such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyoxyethylene and/or polyethyleneglycol (PEG), homopolymers of acrylic acid, copolymers of acrylic acid and maleic acid, and ethoxylated polyethyleneimines. The cellulose based polymers described under soil release polymers above may also function as anti-redeposition agents.

Other suitable adjunct materials include, but are not limited to, anti-shrink agents, anti-wrinkling agents, bactericides, binders, carriers, dyes, enzyme stabilizers, fabric softeners, fillers, foam regulators, hydrotropes, perfumes, pigments, sod suppressors, solvents, and structurants for liquid detergents and/or structure elasticizing agents.

Biofilms

Microorganisms growing in biofilms are less susceptible to all types of antimicrobial agents than the same microorganisms when grown in conventional suspension cultures.

It is well known that starved bacteria can be much less susceptible to a variety of antimicrobial challenges. For example, a number of classical antibiotics such as penicillin, perform poorly in slow or non dividing bacteria. Because lysozyme attacks and destroys the peptidoglycan layer regardless of the growth state of the bacteria, it remains effective.

Biofilm Control; Example Dental Water Lines:

Biofilm buildup within a dental water line can contain biofilms consisting of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Legionella sp. to name but a few. There is also the possibility of colonisation of species generally found within the oral cavity as a result of the failure of anti retraction valves within the system. The risk of cross infection becomes even more of a potential risk of course when immuno-compromised patients are involved and in this day and age the numbers of patients within this category continues to steadily increase. The need exists for effective control of bacterial biofilm accumulation in dental water lines. A review of biofilms can be found: Watnick P and Kolter R (2000), “Biofilm, city of microbes”, J Bacteriol.; 182(10):2675-9.

A typical example of a commercial throat lozenge product is Lysopaine produced by: BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM FRANCE

Active Ingredients:

BACITRACIN 200 U.I.

(to 65 iu/mg)

PAPAIN 2 mg

to 30 NK/mg

LYSOZYME CHLORHYDRATE 5 mg

to 26000 U FIP/mg: units determined by measuring OD kinetics of lysis of bacteria suspended in buffer. The unit determination was measured by lysis induced change in turbididy of a bacterial culture suspended in buffer.

Non Active Ingredients:

SACCHARIN excipient

MAGNESIUM STEARATE excipient

Menthol aromatisant

SORBITOL excipient

For local treatment of point infections limited to the buccal membranes of the oropharynx. Caution, if clinical indications of a general bacterial infection are evident, antibiotic therapy is advised.

Toothpaste:

Lysozyme can be used alone or in combination with other enzymes or even antimicrobial peptides. Examples of other enzymes are glucose oxidase and lactoperoxidase.

A typical toothpaste composition including lysozyme is “Biotene” by Laclede, Inc., 2030 East University Drive, Rancho Domiguez, Calif. 90220, USA.

Active Ingredients

Contains: Lactoperoxidase (100 gm)

Inactive Ingredients

Glucose Oxidase, Lysozyme, Sodium Monofluorophosphate, Sorbitol, Glycerin, Calcium Pyrophosphate, Hydrated Silica, Zylitol, Cellulose Gum, Flavor, Sodium Benzoate, Beta-d-glucose, Potassium Thiocyanate

The present invention is further described by the following examples that should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

EXAMPLES Strains

Aspergillus oryzae MT3568 strain was used for expression of the Acremonium alkalophilum gene encoding the GH25 enzyme. A. oryzae MT3568 is an amdS (acetamidase) disrupted gene derivative of Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 (WO 2002/40694) in which pyrG auxotrophy was restored by disrupting the A. oryzae acetamidase (amdS) gene with the pyrG gene. According to Central Bureau vor Schnimmelkulture, Acremonium alkalophilum CBS 114.92 was isolated by A. Yoneda in 1984 from the sludge of pig faeces compost near Tsukui Lake, Japan. Aspergillus oryzae Toc1512 was used for expression Acremonium alkalophilum gene encoding GH25 enzyme (SEQ ID: 7) and variants. A. oryzae is and pyrG deficient strain that can be transformed with an pyrG gene and transformants selected by their ability to grow in the absence of uridine.

Media and Solutions

YP medium was composed of 10 g of yeast extract, 20 g of Bactopeptone, and deionized water to 1 liter.

LB medium was composed of 10 g of tryptone, 5 g of yeast extract, 5 g of sodium chloride, and deionized water to 1 liter.

MDU-2 Bp medium was composed of per liter 45 g maltose-1H₂O, 7 g yeast extract, 12 g KH₂PO₄, 1 g MgSO₄-7H₂O, 2 g K₂SO₄, 5 g Urea, 1 g NaCl, 0.5 ml AMG trace metal solution pH 5.0.

G2-Gly media was composed of 18 g of yeast extract, 24 g of glycerol (86-88%), 1 ml Dowfax 63N10 and deionized water to 1 liter.

Horikoshi agar medium was composed of: 1% (w/v) Dextrose, 1% soluble starch, 0.5% (w/v) peptone, 0.5% (w/v) yeast extract, 0.02% (w/v) MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.1% (w/v) K₂HPO₄, and 15 g (w/v) of Bacto-agar. 1% (w/v) Na₂CO₃ was added separately after sterilization.

Bacto agar plates were composed of LB medium and 15 g of Bacto agar per liter.

PDA agar plates were composed of potato infusion (potato infusion was made by boiling 300 g of sliced (washed but unpeeled) potatoes in water for 30 minutes and then decanting or straining the broth through cheesecloth. Distilled water was then added until the total volume of the suspension was one liter, followed by 20 g (w/v) of dextrose and 20 g (w/v) of agar powder. The medium was sterilized by autoclaving at 15 psi for 15 minutes (Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th Edition, Revision A, 1998).

COVE sucrose plates were composed of 342 g of sucrose, 20 g of agar powder, 20 ml of COVE salt solution, and deionized water to 1 liter. The medium was sterilized by autoclaving at 15 psi for 15 minutes (Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th Edition, Revision A, 1998). The medium was cooled to 60° C. and 10 mM acetamide, 15 mM CsCl and Triton X-100 (50 μl/500 ml) were added.

NaNO₃ Sucrose plates were composed of 20 ml COVE salt solution, 20 g of agar powder, 342 g sucrose and deionized water to 1 liter. The medium was sterilized by autoclaving at 15 psi for 15 minutes (Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th Edition, Revision A, 1998). The medium was cooled to 60° C. and 10 mM NaNO₃ and Triton X-100 (50 μl/500 ml) were added.

LB agar plates were composed of 37 g of LB agar and deionized water to 1 liter.

COVE salt solution was composed of 26 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 26 g of KCL, 26 g of KH₂PO₄, 50 ml of COVE trace metal solution, and deionized water to 1 liter.

COVE trace metal solution was composed of 0.04 g of Na₂B₄O₇.10H₂O, 0.4 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 1.2 g of FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.7 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 0.8 g of Na₂MoO₄.2H₂O, 10 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, and deionized water to 1 liter.

AMG trace metals were composed of per liter 14.3 g ZnSO₄-7H₂O, 2.5 g CuSO₄-5H₂O, 0.5 g NiCl₂, 13.8 g FeSO₄, 8.5 g MnSO₄, 3.0 g citric acid.

COVE N-gly slants were composed of 10 g of 100% glycerol, 50 ml of COVE salt solution, 218 g sorbitol, 2.02 g KNO₃, 25 g agar, and deionized water to 1 liter.

Example 1 Lysozyme Assay

Xanthomonas campestris is the production organism for all xanthan gum production. The separation of Xanthomonas cells from the highly viscous xanthan solution is a cost-intensive process in the industrial production (Homma et al., EP690072, Murofushi et al., EP718311,

U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,927). Nowadays, the favoured method for recovering xanthan from the fermentation liquid is precipitation with alcohol, mainly isopropanol, after pasteurization to destroy bacterial cells and enzymes (Cottrell, W. I.; Kang, S. K. Dev. (1978), “Xanthan gum: A unique bacterial polysaccharide for food applications”, Ind. Microbiol, 19:177). Subsequently the xanthan/cell debris precipitate is spray dried and milled to a powder. The alcohol is recovered by distillation. Because of the significant amounts of Xanthomonas cell wall debris in some commercial preparations of xanthan gum, and this debris is peptidoglycan rich Xanthomonas cell wall material, the gum can be used as a convenient assay for peptidoglycan degrading activity.

Solid Plate Assay:

Commercially prepared Xanthan gum (Sigma #G-1253) is dissolved in a buffered solution or bacterial growth media to 0.5% w/v in the presence of 0.7% agarose and then autoclaved. Enzyme preparations, supernatants or whole organisms are either deposited in wells cut out of the Bacto agar plates or deposited directly on the surface of the media. The preparations are able to form clearing zones in the plates. These clearing zones can indicate degradation of bacterial cell wall material.

Liquid Clearing Assay:

Commercially prepared xanthan gum is dissolved in a buffered solution in the presence or absence of sodium chloride. The solution is autoclaved and used for studies of xanthan gum clearing. Enzyme preparations, supernatants or whole organisms are added to the assay medium and incubated. Resulting treatments are measured in a spectrophotometer to determine the OD of the solution. Typically a wavelength of 600 nm is used.

Example 2 Cloning and Characterization of the Lysozyme Encoding Gene from Acremonioum alkalophilum (SEQ ID NO: 4)

Genomic sequence information was generated by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI). According to Central Bureau vor Schnimmelkulture, Acremonium alkalophilum CBS 114.92 was isolated by A. Yoneda in 1984 from the sludge of pig faeces compost near Tsukui Lake, Japan. A preliminary assembly of the genome was downloaded from JGI and analyzed using the Pedant-Pro™ Sequence Analysis Suite (Biomax Informatics AG, Martinsried, Germany). Gene models constructed by the software were used as a starting point for detecting GH25 homologues in the genome. More precise gene models were constructed manually using multiple known GH25 protein sequences as a guide.

Acremonium alkalophilum CBS 114.92 was propagated on Horikoshi agar, pH9 for 7 days at 30 C. Mycelia was harvested directly from the plate and DNA was isolated according to the FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil (www.mpbio.com). The DNA was eluted in 100 ul 10 mM TRIS buffer, 0.1 mM EDTA, pH 7, 5 and stored at 4 C until use.

The pair of synthetic oligonucleotide primers shown in table 1 below were designed to PCR amplify the A. alkalophilum CBS114.92 P242M9 GH25 gene, from the A. alkalophilum genomic DNA. An IN-FUSION™ Cloning Kit (Clontech, Mountain View, Calif., USA) was used to clone the fragment directly into the expression vector pDau109 (WO 2005/042735).

TABLE 1 Primers used for GH25 PCR Amplification Specific forward Specific reverse GH25 gene primer primer A. alkalophilum F-P242M9 R-P242M9 CBS114.92 5′-ACACAACTGGGGA 5′-AGATCTCGAGAAG GH25 P242M9 TCCACCATGAAGCTTC CTTATTAGTCTCCGTT TTCCCTCCTTGA-3′ AGCGAGAGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 5) (SEQ ID NO: 6)

Bold letters represent coding sequence. The underlined sequence is homologous to the insertion sites of pDau109.

The PCR reaction (25 μl) was composed of 12.5 μl of 2× IPROOF™ HF Master Mix, 0.5 μl of primer F-P242M9 (100 μM), 0.5 μl of primer R-P242M9 (100 μM), 0.5 μl of genomic (100 ng/μl), and 11 μl of deionized water.

The PCR reaction (25 μl) was composed of Phusion High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase (Cat. No. F-5305, Thermoscientific, USA), 5 uls 5× Pfusion buffer, 0.5 ul 10 mM dNTP, 0.5 μl of primer F-P242M9 (100 μM), 0.5 μl of primer R-P242M9 (100 μM), 0.5 μl of genomic (100 ng/μl), and 18 μl of deionized water. The PCR reaction was incubated in a DYAD® Dual-Block Thermal Cycler (MJ Research Inc., Waltham, Mass., USA) programmed for 1 cycle at 95° C. for 2 minutes; 35 cycles each at 98° C. for 10 seconds, 72° C. for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, 1 cycle at 72° C. for 10 minutes. Samples were cooled to 12° C. before removal and further processing.

Five μl of the PCR reaction were analyzed by 1% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where an approximately 874 bp product band was observed. The remaining PCR reaction was purified using an ILLUSTRA™ GFX™ PCR DNA and Gel Band Purification Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The fragment was then cloned into Hind III and Bam HI digested pDau109 using an IN-FUSION™ Cloning Kit resulting in plasmid pP242M9. Cloning of the P242M9 gene into Hind 111-Bam HI digested pDau109 resulted in the transcription of the Aspergillus aculeatus P242M9 gene under the control of a NA2-tpi double promoter. NA2-tpi is a modified promoter from the gene encoding the Aspergillus niger neutral alpha-amylase in which the untranslated leader has been replaced by an untranslated leader from the gene encoding the Aspergillus nidulans triose phosphate isomerase.

The cloning protocol was performed according to the IN-FUSION™ Cloning Kit instructions generating a P242M9 GH25 construct. The treated plasmid and insert were transformed into Fusion Blue™ E. coli cells (Clontech, Mountain View, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's protocol and plated onto LB plates supplemented with 50 μg of ampicillin per ml. After incubating at 37° C. overnight, colonies were seen growing under selection on the LB ampicillin plates. Ten colonies transformed with the P242M9 GH25 construct were cultivated in LB medium supplemented with 50 μg of ampicillin per ml and plasmid was isolated using a FASTPlasmid mini kit from 5Prime (5 PRIME GmbH, Konigstrasse 4a, 22767 Hamburg, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Isolated plasmids were sequenced with vector primers and in order to determine a representative plasmid expression clone that was free of PCR errors. The DNA sequencing of the Acremonium alkalophilum CBS114.92 GH25 genomic clones were performed with an Applied Biosystems Model 3730x1 Åutomated DNA Sequencer using version 3.1 BIG-DYE™ terminator chemistry (Applied Biosystems, Inc., Foster City, Calif., USA) and primer walking strategy. Nucleotide sequence data were scrutinized for quality and all sequences were compared to each other with assistance of PHRED/PHRAP software (University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., USA). The sequences obtained were identical to the sequences from the JGI.

The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of the Acremonium alkalophilum P242M9 GH25 gene are shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 and SEQ ID NO: 4, respectively. The coding sequence is 838 bp including the stop codon and is interrupted by one intron of 154 bp (nucleotides 148 to 301). The encoded predicted protein is 227 amino acids. Using the SignalP program (Nielsen et al., 1997, Protein Engineering 10: 1-6), a signal peptide of 19 residues was predicted. The predicted mature protein contains 207 amino acids.

The Aspergillus oryzae strain MT3568 was used for all experiments. Aspergillus oryzae MT3568 is an amdS (acetamidase) disrupted derivative of A. oryzae JaL355 (WO 2002/40694) in which pyrG auxotrophy was restored in the process of knocking out the A. oryzae amdS gene. A. oryzae MT3568 protoplasts were prepared according to the method of European Patent, EP0238023, pages 14-15. Fresh protoplasts of A. oryzae MT3568 were prepared and transformed with the pP242M9 GH25 plasmid. Plasmid DNA from the above mini prep procedure was used to transform A. oryzae MT3568.

Six ul containing about 3.0 μg total DNA was used for the transformation. The DNA was gently added to 100 μl of A. oryzae MT3568 protoplasts and 250 μl of 60% PEG 4000 (Sigma-Aldrich cat. No. 95904). The 60% (W/V) PEG 4000 was prepared in the following manner: PEG 4000 powder was dissolved in double distilled H₂O and then heated for 10-20 seconds in a microwave oven at 800 watt until dissolved. The dissolved solution was cooled down to room temperature and then then adjusted with CaCl2 solution and Tris-HCl solution (pH 7.5) for a final concentration of 10 mM of each. After adding the 60% PEG 4000 solution, the tube was gently mixed and incubated at 37° C. for 30 minutes. The mix was added to 6 ml of top agar with 10 mM acetamide and plated onto COVE-sorbitol plates with 10 mM acetamide.

The plates were incubated at 37° C. for 3 or more days and then moved to 26° C. for two days. Spores from 4 individual colonies were picked by first dipping a white 10 μl inoculation pin (Nunc A/S, Denmark) in a 0.1% TWEEN® 80 solution, contacting the sporulating colony on the selection plate, and restreaking with the pin onto fresh COVE sorbitol plates containing 10 mM acetamide. After 5 days at 26° C., spores from the restreaked colonies were used to inoculate a 96 well deep dish plate (NUNC, cat. no. 260251, Thermoscientific, USA). The wells of the deep dish plate contained 500 uls of either YP+2% glucose or YP+2% maltodextrin media. The inoculated plate was sealed with gas permeable tape (89009-656, VWR.com). Plates were incubated stationary at 30 C for 5 days. Expression was verified by analysis of 20 uls of harvested culture fluid on SDS-PAGE using a NUPAGE® 10% Bis-Tris gel (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) and Coomassie blue staining. One transformant was selected for further work and designated A. oryzae EXP03864.

Spores of EXP03864 were inoculated into DAP-4C-1 medium (100 mls in 500 ml Erlenmeyer shake flask with baffles). The cultures were incubated at 26° C. and 150 rpm, 3 days and if necessary 4 days. An SDS gel was run as above to test protein amount.

Plate Test for Lysozyme Activity

A Spot assay was performed with Xanthan gum, at pH 5, 7 and 8 as described in the section lysozyme plate assay.

A 1.5% Agarose (Invitrogen cat. 15510-027, electrophoresis grade) solution was prepared in the following buffers:

pH˜5—in water

pH˜7—in 0.02M potassium phosphate pH 7

pH˜8—in 0.02M potassium phosphate pH 8

The agarose was autoclaved for 20 minutes at 121° C. 0.5% Xanthan gum (Sigma G1253) was dissolved in the melted 1.5% agarose and the mixture poured into petri plates. When the plates were set, sample application wells were made with a P-1000 pippette tip (cut off to a 3 mm diameter) attached to a vacuum line.

20 ul of the culture fluid of EXP03899 was deposited in the application wells and incubated at 37° C. overnight. Samples with lysozyme activity were observed by clearing zones where the cell debris in the xanthan gum was observed. Culture fluids from EXP03864 displayed such a clearing zone while the Aspergillus oryzae untransformed transformation host MT3568 did not produce a noticeable clearing zone. The remaining culture EXP03899 fluid was filtered though a Fast PES Bottle top filter with a 0.22 μm cut-off. and stored in aliquots at −20° C. until further use.

Example 3 RDA (Radial Diffusion Assays)

Initially, the antimicrobial activity of the culture supernatants and purified fractions containing the recombinantly expressed lysozymes was confirmed using an RDA's as described previously by Lehrer et al. (Lehrer R I, Rosenman M, Harwig S S et al. (1991), “Ultrasensitive assays for endogenous antimicrobial polypeptides”, J Immunol Methods, 137:167-73), with several modifications. Briefly, 30 mL of melted 1/10 Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB) (Sambrook J, Fritsch E F, Maniatis T. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989) with 1% agarose was cooled to 42° C., supplemented to 5.0×10⁵ cfu/mL with S. carnosus ÅTCC 51365 or E. coli DSM682 (ATCC 10536) and was poured into a single-well omnitray (Nunc) plate. The omnitray plate was overlayed with a TSP plate (Nunc) and left to solidify. After 1 h, the TSP plate was removed; leaving 96 1-mm wells in which 10 μL of the compound of interest could be tested.

10 μl of the test solution is spotted pr. well and the plates are incubated 0/N at 37° C. The following day clearing zones indicated no growth of test bacteria and thereby antimicrobial activity. The clearing zones were visualized by colouring with MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, a yellow tertrazole), that is reduced to purple formazan in living cells (Mosmann, Tim (1983), “Rapid colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival: application to proliferation and cytotoxicity assays”, Journal of Immunological Methods 65 (1-2): 55-63). This colouring provides for a dark colouring of living cells and no colouring of the clearing zones without living cells.

The Aspergillus fumigatus GH25 lysozyme (prepared as disclosed in Korczynska et al, Acta Cryst. (2010) F66, 973-977) was included in the test as a reference. The purified samples shown in table 2 below have been tested in the RDA assay.

TABLE 2 Radial Diffusion Assay of GH24 and GH25 Lysozymes Dilution Dilution Lysozyme Stock conc. 0.7 ug/ul 0.35 ug/ul A. alcalophilum  1.4 μg/μl 37.5 μl enz. + 18.8 μl enz. + GH24 37.5 μl water 56.2 μl water SEQ ID NO: 2 A. alcalophilum 0.77 μg/μl 68.2 μl enz. + 34.1 μl enz. + GH25 6.8 μl water 40.9 μl water SEQ ID NO: 4 A. fumigatus 12.2 μg/μl 4.3 μl enz. + 2.2 μl enz. + GH25 70.6 μl water 72.8 μl water (reference)

Measurement of Clearing Zones

The experiment was performed in triplicate with all resulting in same measured clearing zones/zones of inhibition, see FIG. 1. Table 3 below shows the clearing zones in mm.

TABLE 3 Antimicrobial Clearing Zones of the GH25 Lysozymes Against Staphylococcus carnosus and Escherichia coli. 0.7 μg/μl 0.35 μg/μl 0.7 μg/μl 0.35 μg/μl S. carnosus S. carnosus E. coli E. coli A. alcalophilum 12 10 16 14 GH24 SEQ ID NO: 2 A. alcalophilum faint faint 8 (cloudy) 6 (cloudy) GH25 SEQ ID NO: 4 A. fumigatus 11 10 10  8 GH25 (reference)

The purified lysozyme A. alcalophilum GH24 (SEQ ID NO: 4) showed antimicrobial activity against viable cells of the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus carnosus and the Gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli.

The antimicrobial activity is not present in culture supernatants from the untransformed Aspergillus production host (results not shown).

Large clearing zones with non defined borders were observed surrounding the application zone for A. alcalophilum GH24 (SEQ ID NO: 2). The experiment indicates that the A. alcalophilum lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 2) and the Aspergillus fumigatus GH25 refererence lysozyme have different activity and specificity against the two bacteria tested in this example.

Example 4 Turbidity Assay

The activity of lysozyme was determined by measuring the decrease (drop) in absorbance/optical density of a solution of resuspended Micrococcus lysodeikticus ATTC No. 4698 (Sigma-Aldrich M3770) or Exiguobacterium undea (DSM14481) measured in a spectrophotometer at 540 nm.

Preparation of Micrococcus lysodeikticus Substrate

Before use the cells were resuspended in citric acid-phosphate buffer pH 6.5 to a concentration of 0.5 mg cells/mL and the optical density (OD) at 540 nm was measured. The cell suspension was then adjusted so that the cell concentration equalled an OD540=1.0. The adjusted cell suspension was then stored cold before use. Resuspended cells were used within 4 hours.

Preparation of Citric Acid-Phosphate Buffer pH 6.5

29 mL 0.1 M citric acid was mixed with 61 mL 0.2 M Na₂HPO₄, and the pH was adjusted with HCl or NaOH to pH 6.5.

Preparation of Dried Cells of Exiquobacterium undae (the Substrate)

A culture of E. undae (DSM14481) was grown in 100 mL LB medium (Fluka 51208, 25 g/L) in a 500 mL shake-flask at 30° C., 250 rpm overnight. The overnight culture was then centrifuged at 20° C. and 5000 g for 10 minutes, and the pellet was washed two times in sterile milliQ water, and resuspended in Milli-Q water. The washed cells were centrifuged for 1 minute at 13000 rpm and as much as possible of the supernatant was decanted. The washed cells were dried in a vacuum centrifuge for 1 hour. The cell pellet was resuspended in citric acid-phosphate buffer pH 6.5 so that the optical density (OD) at 540 nm=1.

Measurement of Lysozyme Antimicrobial Activity in the Turbidity Assay

The lysozyme sample to be measured was diluted to a concentration of 100-200 mg enzyme protein/L in citric acid-phosphate buffer pH 6.5, and kept on ice until use. In a 96 well microtiterplate (Nunc) 200 μL of the substrate was added to each well, and the plate was incubated at 25° C. or 37° C. for 5 minutes in a VERSAmax microplate reader (Molecular Devices). Following incubation, the absorbance of each well was measured at 540 nm (start value). To start the activity measurement, 20 μL of the diluted lysozyme sample was added to each substrate (200 μL) and kinetic measurement of absorbance at 540 nm was initiated for minimum 30 minutes up to 24 hours at 25° C. or 37° C. The measured absorbance at 540 nm was monitored for each well and over time a drop in absorbance is seen if the lysozyme has lysozyme activity.

The Aspergillus fumigatus GH25 lysozyme (Korczynska et al (2010) supra.) was included in the test as a reference and the results are shown in table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Lysozyme Activity of GH25 Lysozymes against Micrococcus lysodeikticus and Exiguobacterium undea as measured by Optical Density Drop Micrococcus Exiguobacterium lysodeikticus undae Temperature 37° C. 25° C. 37° C. A. alcalophilum GH25 NT ++ +++ (SEQ ID NO: 4) A. fumigatus GH25 + +++ +++ (reference) NT means not testet − Means no effect + means small effect ++ means medium effect +++ means large effect

Example 5 Purification of P242M9 GH25 Protein in Aspergillus oryzae

The fermentation supernatant with the lysozyme was filtered through a Fast PES Bottle top filter with a 0.22 μm cut-off. pH was adjusted to 4.5 with 10% acetic acid. After the pH-adjustment the solution became a little cloudy and this was removed by filtration through a Fast PES Bottle top filter with a 0.22 μm cut-off.

After pretreatment about 650 ml of the lysozyme containing solution was purified by chromatography on SP Sepharose, approximately 50 ml in a XK26 column, using as buffer A 50 mM Na-acetate pH 4.5, and as buffer B 50 mM Na-acetate+1 M NaCl pH 4.5. The fractions from the column were pooled based on the chromatogram (absorption at 280 and 254 nm) and SDS-PAGE analysis. The pooled fractions were buffer-changed into 50 mM Na-acetate, pH 5.5 and concentrated using Amicon spin filters with a 10 kDa cut-off.

The molecular weight, as estimated from SDS-PAGE, was approximately 22 kDa and the purity was >95%.

Example 6 Temperature Stability of P242M9 GH25

Temperature stability was determined for Acremonium alcalophilum P242M9 GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 4). The purpose of this study is to determine residual activity of Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme after heat treatment at 60° C.-85° C.

Samples were incubated at different temperature for a short period of time (30 s and 60 s) after which the residual activity was measured for 1 h at 37° C. in a citric-acid-phosphate buffer using gram positive bacteria Micrococcus luteus as substrate. OD drop turbidity assay at 540 nm was used to determine lysozyme activity.

Heat Treatment

The heat treatment was performed in a buffered solution of Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 4) in a preheated PCR Thermocycler (GeneAmp PCR system 9700) for 30/60 sec at different temperatures. 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 and 85° C. were used for either 30 or 60 seconds after which the tubes were placed on an ice bath for instant cooling of the samples.

Turbidity Assay

The activity of lysozyme was determined by measuring the decrease (drop) in absorbance/optical density of a solution of re-suspended Micrococcus luteus (also named Micrococcus lysodeikticus) ATTC No. 4698 (Sigma-Aldrich M3770) measured in a spectrophotometer at 540 nm.

Preparation of Micrococcus luteus Substrate

Before use the cells were re-suspended in citric acid-phosphate buffer (prepared by mixing 29 mL 0.1 M citric acid with 61 mL 0.2 M Na₂HPO₄ and adusting to pH 6.5 with HCl or NaOH) to a concentration of 0.5 mg cells/mL and the optical density (OD) at 540 nm was measured. The cell suspension was then adjusted so the cell concentration equaled an OD540=1.0. The adjusted cell suspension was then stored cold before use. Suspended cells were used within 4 hours.

Measurement of Lysozyme Antimicrobial Activity in the Turbidity Assay

The lysozyme sample was diluted to a concentration of 100-200 mg enzyme protein/L in citric acid-phosphate buffer, and kept on ice until use. In a 96 well microtiterplate (Nunc), the Micrococcus luteus substrate (200 μL) was added to each well, and the plate was incubated at 37° C. for 5 minutes in a VERSAmax microplate reader (Molecular Devices). Following the incubation the absorbance of each well was measured at 540 nm (start value). To start the activity measurement, the diluted lysozyme sample (20 μL) was added to the pH adjusted diluted substrate (200 μL) in each well and kinetic measurement of absorbance at 540 nm was initiated for minimum 30 minutes up to 24 hours at 37° C.

The measured absorbance at 540 nm was monitored for each well and over time a drop in absorbance is seen if the lysozyme has antimicrobial activity. The difference between the absorbance at T=0 and the time points was calculated as the ΔOD and compared between test substances (table 5 and FIG. 2). The percentage remaining activity was calculated by comparing the ΔOD of the heat treated sample with the ΔOD of the sample which was not heat treated. The experiment described above was performed in triplicate.

TABLE 5 Temperature Stability of the P242M9 GH25 Lysozyme as measured by OD Drop Time Temperature (° C.) (Sec) 60 65 70 75 80 85 No heat 30 0.2320 0.2263 0.1958 0.2416 0.2300 0.2322 0.2210 60 0.2464 0.2181 0.2109 0.2031 0.1888 0.1858 0.2268

TABLE 6 Percentage Remaining Activity of the P242M9 GH25 Lysozyme Time Temperature (° C.) (Sec) 60 65 70 75 80 85 No heat 30 105% 102% 89% 109% 104% 105% 100% 60 109%  96% 93%  90%  83%  82% 100%

The results show that the P242M9 GH25 lysozyme is stable after 30 seconds even at 85° C. and that the GH25 lysozyme retains over 80% activity even after 60 seconds at 85° C.

Example 7 Thermostability of P242M9 GH25 Determined Using DSC

An aliquot of the protein sample of lysozyme (P242M9 GH25), purified as described in Example 7, was buffer-changed (see buffer in table below) using a prepacked PD-10 column. The sample was 0.45 μm filtered and diluted with buffer to approx. 2 A280 units. The buffer was used as reference solution. The thermostability of the lysozyme in different pH values was determined by Differential Scanning calorimetry (DSC) using a VP-capillary DSC instrument (MicroCal Inc., Piscataway, N.J., USA) equipped with an auto sampler. The thermal denaturation temperature, Td (° C.), was taken as the top of denaturation peak (major endothermic peak) in thermograms (Cp vs. T) obtained after heating the lysozyme solutions in the buffer at a constant programmed heating rate.

Sample and reference solutions (approx. 0.5 ml) were thermally pre-equilibrated for 10 minutes at 20° C. and the DSC scan was performed from 20 to 110° C. at a scan rate of 200 K/hour. Data-handling is performed using the MicroCal Origin software (version 7.0383). Denaturation temperatures were determined at an accuracy of approximately +/−0.5° C. The results of the DSC measurements are summarized in table 7 and FIG. 3.

TABLE 7 Denaturation Temperature of the P242M9 GH25 Lysozyme Buffer Td (° C.) 50 mM Na-acetate, pH 4.5 71.2 50 mM Na-acetate, pH 5.5 67.3 50 mM MES (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic 65.8 acid), pH 6.5

Example 8 Cloning and Expression of Lysozyme Encoding Genes from Acremonioum alkalophilum (SEQ ID NO: 8)

Based on the nucleotide sequence identified as SEQ ID NO: 3, a synthetic gene having SEQ ID NO: 7, was synthesized by Gene Art (GENEART AG BioPark, Josef-Engert-Str. 11, 93053, Regensburg, Germany). The PCR primer set listed below in table 8 was used to PCR amplify the synthetic GH25 gene. For cloning purposes the restriction sites BamHI and EcoRI were introduced in the end of the PCR fragment (restriction sites are underlined in the primer sequences listed below and bold letters represent coding sequence).

TABLE 8 Primers used for PCR amplification of the GH25 Specific forward Specific reverse GH25 gene primer primer Synthetic gene Fwd. BamHI Rev. EcoRI 5′TACACAACTGGGGA 5′-ATACTTGTCCGAA TCCAGCGGCCGCACCA TTC CTAATCGCCGTTC TGAAGTTCTTCACCAC-3′ GCCAATGC-3′ SEQ ID NO: 9 SEQ ID NO: 10

The PCR fragment was spin purified, digested with BamHI and EcoRI (New England Biolabs) and ligated using the Rapid DNA Ligation kit (Roche) into the dual A. Oryzae/E. coli plasmid expression vector pEN11898 that first had been digested with BamHI and EcoRI. pEN11898 is modified from vector pENI1861 (WO 03/070956) as the AMA sequence (Clutterbuck A. J., et al. (1991) Gene 98 (1): 61-67) has been removed by digestion of the vector with HindIII followed by re-ligation of the agarose gel-purified vector. Further, pENI1861 carries the pyrG gene and is able to complement a pyrG deficient Aspergillus strain.

Following 5 minutes incubation at room temperature the ligation reaction was transformed into competent E. coli TOP10 cells (Invitrogen) which were plated onto LB agar plates containing 150 μg/ml ampicillin. Plates were incubated for 16 hours at 37° C. Plasmid DNA were purified from selected transformants, and sequenced for verification of cloning procedure.

The encoded predicted protein is 248 amino acids and contains a signal peptide of 23 residues and a mature protein of 207 amino acids. The mature sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 is identical to the mature sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8.

Example 9 Cloning and Expression of Lysozyme GH25 Variants

Variants of GH25 gene

10 variants containing a single amino acid changes in the synthetic GH25 lysozyme gene were cloned and expressed. The variants of the GH25 lysozyme consist of the single substitution as follows: W10H, Y28M, S39D, G92P, A93M, E97A, V133M, T142N, F1781 or D190A.

Cloning of variants of GH25

To generate the GH25 variants as described above, PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis was done with mutagenic primers that introduced the desired sequence change (substitutions). Primers were designed so that the mutation lies in the middle of the oligonucleotide with sufficient flanking nucleotides (15-25). The plasmid DNA containing GH25 was used as template and PCR was setup with a proofreading DNA polymerase (Phusion DNA polymerase (New England Biolabs). The PCR products were used to transform competent E. coli TOP 10 cells (Invitrogen) according to the instructions from the manufacturer. Plasmid DNA was isolated from monoclonal transformed E. coli strains, and sequenced to verify the presence of the desired substitution.

Transformation and Expression of GH25 and Variants

The plasmid DNA pEN11898 encoding the lysozyme gene was used for transformation into A. oryzae ToC1512 protoplasts (WO 2005/070962) as described in example 2 and plated onto NaNO₃ sucrose plates without uridine for selection of transformants carrying correct constructs. Plates were incubated 72 hours at 37° C.

Single colonies were isolated by restreaking colonies on NaNO₃ sucrose plates for 72 hours at 37° C. and grown in YP media at 34° C. for 72 hours. Colonies expressing lysozyme were selected after examination of broths by the tubidity assay in 50 mM 3,3 dimethylglutaric acid at pH 6.4 with Micrococcus lysodeikticus cell walls as substrates. Further, expression of lysozyme was confirmed by visual inspection of a band of approximately 23 KDa by SDS-PAGE analysis.

Transformants expressing lysozyme were restreaked and grown on COVE N-gly slants at 37° C. for another 5 days and inoculated to 200 ml of G2-Gly shaking flask. After the cultivation with vigorous agitation at 30° C. for 1 day, 3 ml of each culture was transferred to 200 ml of MDU-2Bp in shaking flask to cultivate at 30° C. for 3 days. Culture broths were purified in a similar manor to the purification of the P242M9 GH25 lysozyme in example 6 above.

Example 10 Antimicrobial Activity

The antimicrobial activity of the P242M9 GH25 lysozyme, the synthetic GH25 lysozyme and 11 variants of the synthetic GH25 lysozyme were tested against two Clostridium perfringens strains.

Method and Materials

The activity was determined by both measuring the optical density and the number of colony forming units of Cl. perfringens cultures before and after exposure to lysozyme. Exposure of Cl. perfringens to active lysozymes will result in a kill of the bacteria and a corresponding decrease in both optical density (OD-drop) and the number of colony forming units.

Briefly, lysozyme stock solutions were diluted in PBS (pH 6) to concentrations of 50 μg/ml. Two-fold dilution series of these 50 μg/ml solutions were performed in PBS (pH 6) to end concentrations of 0.4 μg/ml.

Then overnight cultures of Cl. perfringens were re-suspended in PBS (pH 6). OD₅₄₆ was measured and adjusted to 1. Cultures (75 μl) were mixed in micro-titre plates (Nunc) 1:1 with prepared lysozyme-solutions (75 μl), which resulted in exposure of Cl. perfringens to end concentrations of lysozymes ranging from 0.4-25 μg/ml (7 concentrations in total pr. lysozyme). Cultures were exposed to lysozymes for 4 hours under anaerobic conditions at 42° C. OD₅₄₆ and CFU/ml were measured at time points 0 and 4 hours post-exposure.

Results

The results of the activity testing are shown in tables 9, 10 and 11 and FIGS. 4 and 5. Table 9 shows the decrease in colony forming units of two strains of Clostridium perfringens per mL (CFU/mL) of GH25 lysozyme or variant. Exposure to active lysozymes resulted typically in 1-2 log reductions in CFU/mL. Lysozyme activity was evaluated as significant if reduction in CFU/ml was log.

Table 10 shows the optical density drop (delta OD) of Clostridium perfringens NN01260 upon exposure to the GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4), the synthetic GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 8) or 11 variants of SEQ ID NO: 8. Table 11 shows the optical density drop (delta OD) of Clostridium perfringens clinical isolate upon exposure to the GH25 lysozyme P242M9 (SEQ ID NO: 4), the synthetic GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 8) or 11 variants of SEQ ID NO: 8.

TABLE 9 Decrease in CFU/mL of Clostridium perfringens when treated with Wild Type and Variant GH25 Lysozymes Decrease in CFU/mL Cl. perfringens - GH25 Wild Type Cl. perfringens clinical isolate or Variant (NNO11260) from chickens SEQ ID NO: 4 ++ ++ V133M ++ + W10H ++ + S39D ++ + F178I ++ ++ SEQ ID NO: 8 ++ ++ Y28M ++ ++ D95A ++ + G92P + + E97A − − D190A (+) (+) A93M + (+) T142N + (+) ++ significant activity within the whole range of lysozyme concentrations tested. + significant activity for a reduced number of lysozyme concentrations tested. − no significant activity of the lysozyme.

TABLE 10 OD-Drop of Clostridium perfringens NN011260 when treated with Wild Type and Variant GH25 Lysozymes GH25 Concentration of Cl. Perfringens NN011260 (μg/ml)* Wild Type 25 6.25 1.56 0.39 or Variant Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD SEQ ID NO: 4 0.090 0.006 0.093 0.005 0.075 0.010 0.061 0.004 V133M 0.081 0.007 0.101 0.004 0.076 0.009 0.058 0.005 W10H 0.074 0.004 0.077 0.018 0.062 0.005 0.043 0.006 S39D 0.087 0.014 0.083 0.007 0.073 0.012 0.067 0.010 F178I 0.087 0.008 0.090 0.013 0.091 0.009 0.065 0.014 SEQ ID NO: 8 0.098 0.011 0.082 0.001 0.083 0.014 0.086 0.015 Y28M 0.086 0.013 0.081 0.004 0.080 0.017 0.075 0.014 D95A 0.066 0.007 0.088 0.008 0.082 0.007 0.073 0.010 G92P 0.069 0.004 0.062 0.004 0.043 0.009 0.047 0.009 E97A 0.019 0.005 0.030 0.008 0.013 0.005 0.024 0.012 D190A 0.077 0.004 0.089 0.007 0.059 0.007 0.055 0.005 A93M 0.069 0.003 0.077 0.004 0.063 0.004 0.043 0.005 T142N 0.064 0.008 0.073 0.008 0.051 0.004 0.020 0.003 *Average of three biological replicates

TABLE 11 OD-Drop of Clostridium perfringens clinical isolate when treated with Wild Type and Variant GH25 Lysozymes GH25 Concentration of Cl. Perfringens clinical strain (μg/ml)* Wild Type 25 6.25 1.56 0.39 or Variant Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD Delta OD₅₄₆ SD SEQ ID NO: 4 0.068 0.014 0.062 0.012 0.028 0.021 0.009 0.003 V133M 0.060 0.010 0.050 0.009 0.016 0.009 −0.001 0.006 W10H 0.050 0.018 0.024 0.029 0.007 0.016 −0.005 0.011 S39D 0.058 0.016 0.047 0.006 0.025 0.015 0.003 0.006 F178I 0.070 0.015 0.068 0.018 0.033 0.010 0.008 0.005 SEQ ID NO: 8 0.073 0.015 0.060 0.013 0.042 0.018 0.011 0.008 Y28M 0.064 0.015 0.065 0.013 0.047 0.026 0.014 0.017 D95A 0.060 0.014 0.059 0.010 0.027 0.019 0.011 0.015 G92P 0.049 0.021 0.025 0.022 0.008 0.010 0.002 0.001 E97A 0.002 0.012 0.009 0.019 0.001 0.011 0.007 0.008 D190A 0.049 0.018 0.028 0.016 0.019 0.024 0.005 0.009 A93M 0.059 0.012 0.038 0.024 0.007 0.020 0.006 0.017 T142N 0.063 0.012 0.036 0.017 0.015 0.034 −0.002 0.024 *Average of three biological replicates

The results show that the mutation of 9 positions did not result in the loss of lysozyme activity. However, mutation of position 97 resulted in loss of activity indicating that this position cannot be mutated.

Example 11 pH Activity Profile

The pH activity profile of the lysozyme of the invention was determined by measuring the decrease (drop) in absorbance/optical density of a solution of resuspended Micrococcus luteus ATTC No. 4698 (Sigma-Aldrich M3770) measured in a spectrophotometer at 540 nm for a range of pH values in order to determine at which pH the GH25 lysozyme or variant has peak lysozyme activity.

The Micrococcus luteus substrate was prepared as described in example 6. The lysozyme antimicrobial activity was measured as described in example 6 except that the citric acid-phosphate buffer was adjusted to one of the following pH values with HCl or NaOH prior to beginning the experiment: 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0. The experiment described above was performed in duplicates or triplicates and the results are given in table 12 below.

TABLE 12 pH Activity Profile of Wild Type and Variant GH25 Lysozymes GH25 Wild Type pH of Peak or Variant Antimicrobial Activity SEQ ID NO: 4 4.0 V133M 4.0 W10H 4.5 S39D 4.5 F178I 4.0 SEQ ID NO: 8 4.0 Y28M 4.0 D95A 4.0 G92P 4.0 E97A no activity found D190A no activity found A93M 4.0 T142N 4.0

The results show that GH25 lysozyme variants of the invention having the substitution Y28M, G92P, A93M, V133M, T142N or F1781 retained antimicrobial activity without significant change in the pH activity profile compared to the wild type lysozyme. GH25 lysozyme variants of the invention having the substitution W10H or S39D resulted in an altered pH profile, such that the pH profile increased by 0.5 pH unit, whilst retaining antimicrobial activity.

Example 12 Gastric Stability

The activity of Hen egg white lysozyme, A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO: 8 and two variants (W10H and S39D) were activity tested by the turbidity assay after incubation for up to 1 hour in artificial gastric juice (pH 2) containing pepsin. This activity was then compared to a standard curve made for each lysozyme under the same or equivalent conditions but without incubation with gastric juice containing pepsin.

The different lysozymes were incubated in artificial gastric juice for a time span of 0, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. After incubation, a stop buffer was added to raise pH and thereby prevent the low pH and pepsin from degrading peptide bonds of the lysozyme. After deactivation of pepsin, an activity turbidity assay was performed together with a standard curve of different concentrations of the lysozyme in question for comparison.

Artificial Gastric Juice: (HCl pH 2, 1 Mg/Ml Pepsin, 0.1 M NaCl).

Solution A: 0.01 M HCl, 0.1 M NaCl (prepared by mixing 275 μl 1M HCl with 2.5 ml 1M NaCl and adding 22.23 ml MQ water to a total volume of 25 ml). Solution B: 0.01 M HCl, 0.1 M NaCl, 10 mg/ml pepsin (prepared by weighing out 50 mg pepsin and adding 5 ml solution A).

Preparation of Standard Curve

Artificial gastric juice (160 μl) was added to each microtiter well followed by 20 μl citric acid-phosphate buffer (pH 7 for hen egg white lysozyme, pH 4 for A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme and pH 4.5 for the variants W10H and S39D). The lysozyme solution (20 μl) was added then Micrococcus luteus substrate (20 μl, prepared as described in example 6) was added to each well (standard curve as well as time series samples) and the OD 540 nm was measured each minute for one hour at 37° C.

The lysozyme antimicrobial activity was measured as described in example 6 except that the citric acid-phosphate buffer was adjusted to the optimal pH for the different lysozymes (as given in the previous paragraph) by addition of HCl or NaOH. The experiment described above was performed in duplicates and the results are given in table 13 below.

TABLE 13 Residual activity of lysozyme after incubation with artificial gastric juice Residual activity (minutes) Lysozyme 0 min 15 min 30 min 60 min Hen egg white lysozyme 100% 56% 30%  7% Acremonium alcalophilum 100% 109%  109%  102% GH25 lysozyme Acremonium alcalophilum 100% 97% 97% 101% GH25 lysozyme variant W10H Acremonium alcalophilum 100% 99% 93%  89% GH25 lysozyme variant S39D

The remaining lysozyme activity after incubation in artificial gastric juice was dramatic reduced for hen egg white lysozymes even after 15 minutes. In comparison, the GH25 lysozyme from Acremonium alcalophilum showed no reduction in activity. In addition, the two GH25 variants having the substitution W10H or S39D also retained lysozyme activity, showing similar residual activity as the GH25 lysozymes from Acremonium alcalophilum.

Example 13 Isolation of Genomic DNA

The yield of bacterial genomic DNA purifications with added Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO. 8) and a combination of hen egg white lysozyme and Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO. 8) were compared to DNA purification without lysozyme and with hen egg white lysozyme alone. Genomic DNA was isolated from five different bacteria.

Method

Bacterial mass was obtained either by scraping off cells from an agar plate with an inoculation loop or by centrifugation of a liquid culture (see table 14). DNA was isolated using a modified version of the QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit (Cat. No 51106) and purified either using a Qiagen QIAcube or a manual process.

TABLE 14 Overview of bacterial strains tested, cell starting material and purification method. DSMZ Cell starting Purification Bacterial strain No.: material method Micrococcus DSM20030 Colony scrape QIAcube with luteus Qiagen kit #51106 Bacillus DSM3256 Colony scrape QIAcube with subtilis Qiagen kit #51106 Zobillia DSM2061 Liquid culture Qiagen kit #51106 uliginosa Streptomyces DSM40233 Liquid culture Qiagen kit #51106 coelicolor Celluphaga DSM2039 Colony scrape Qiagen kit #51106 lytica Streptomyces DSM40847 Liquid culture Qiagen kit #51106 mobaraensis

DNA Isolation Using QIAcube:

A colony scrape fitting a 10 μL inoculation loop was resuspended in 3 mL M9 buffer (prepared by dissolving 8.77 g Na₂HPO.2H₂O, 3 g KH₂PO₄, 4 g NaCl and 0.2 g MgSO₄.7H₂O in 1000 mL H₂O and adjusting the pH to 7 with NaOH or HCl). The solution was centrifuged for 5 min at 3000 RPM and the pellet was resuspended in 3 mL P1 buffer (included in Qiagen kit#51106). 200 μL aliquots were added to 12 2 mL tubes and 15 μL of water, A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (10 mg/mL), Hen egg white lysozyme (10 mg/mL) or A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (10 mg/mL)+hen egg white (10 mg/mL) 1:1 mix were added to tubes in triplicates. Tubes were placed in the QIAcube and processed according to Qiagens recommendations.

Manual DNA Isolation:

Liquid culture pellets and colony scrape were resuspended in 3 mL M9 buffer. Bacterial M9 buffer suspensions were centrifuged for 5 min at 3000 RPM and pellets were resuspended in 3 mL P1 buffer. 200 μL aliquots were added to 12 2 mL tubes and 15 μL of water, A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (10 mg/mL), Hen egg white lysozyme (10 mg/mL) or A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (10 mg/mL)+hen egg white (10 mg/mL) 1:1 mix were added to tubes in triplicates. Tubes were incubated at 37° C. for 30 min after which 25 μL Qiagen Protease and 200 μL Qiagen buffer AL were added. The tubes were then incubated at 56° C. for 20 min. 210 μL 96% ethanol were next added to each tube. The tubes were vortexed and liquids were transferred to Qiagen spin columns and centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 1 min. The columns were washed twice with 500 μl AW1 buffer (included in Qiagen kit#51106). After the first wash, the columns were centrifuged for 1 min at 8000 RPM and after the second wash, the columns were centrifuged for 3 min at 15000 RPM. Genomic DNA was eluted from column by addition by 100 μL milliQ water (heated to 70° C.) to each column, incubated for 1 min at room temperature and centrifuged into Eppendorf tubes at 8000 RPM for 1 min. All incubations were repeated in triplicate.

Results

The yield of genomic DNA yield was estimated by running the isolated DNA on an agarose gel and visually inspecting the intensity of the DNA band (table 15). The relative DNA yield between the 4 different treatments of each bacterial strain was estimated by eye using 4 different scores.

TABLE 15 Comparison of the Genomic DNA yield between different combinations of Acremonium alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme (SEQ ID NO. 8) and hen egg white lysozyme A. alcalophilum A. alcalophilum Hen GH25 No GH25 egg lysozyme and Bacterial strain lysozyme lysozyme white hen egg white Micrococcus − ++ +++ +++ luteus Bacillus − + +++ ++ subtilis Zobillia ++ +++ +++ +++ uliginosa Streptomyces − − + + coelicolor Celluphaga +++ +++ +++ +++ lytica Streptomyces − ++ + +++ mobaraensis Yields were scored by eye using the following scale: − no DNA band visible + weak band ++ medium band +++ strong band.

The use of A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme gave as good as or better yield of genomic DNA in 3 out of 6 cases compared to hen egg lysozyme. The use of the combination of A. alcalophilum GH25 lysozyme and hen egg lysozyme gave as good as or better yield of genomic DNA in 5 out of 6 cases compared to either lysozyme alone. 

1-29. (canceled)
 30. An isolated polypeptide having lysozyme activity, selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% or 100% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8; (b) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% or 100% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7; (c) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under medium-high stringency conditions with the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 7, or the full-length complement thereof; (d) a variant of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8, comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion at one or more (e.g., several) positions; and (e) a fragment of the polypeptide of (a), (b), (c) or (d) that has lysozyme activity.
 31. The polypeptide of claim 30, selected among polypeptides comprising or consisting of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8 or the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO:
 8. 32. The polypeptide of claim 31, wherein the mature polypeptide is selected among amino acids 20 to 227 of SEQ ID NO: 4 or amino acids 1 to 208 of SEQ ID NO:
 8. 33. The polypeptide of claim 30, which is a variant of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO: 8 comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion at one or more (several) positions.
 34. A composition comprising the polypeptide of claim
 30. 35. The composition of claim 34 which is a detergent composition.
 36. The detergent composition of claim 35 for laundry, dish wash or cleaning hard surfaces.
 37. An animal feed composition comprising the polypeptide of claim
 30. 38. The animal feed composition of claim 37, which further comprises of one or more amylases; phytases; xylanases; galactanases; alpha-galactosidases; proteases, phospholipases, beta-glucanases, or any mixture thereof.
 39. An animal feed additive comprising at least one polypeptide of claim 30; and at least one fat-soluble vitamin, and/or at least one water-soluble vitamin, and/or at least one trace mineral.
 40. The animal feed additive of claim 39, which further comprises of one or more amylases; phytases; xylanases; galactanases; alpha-galactosidases; proteases, phospholipases, beta-glucanases, or any mixture thereof.
 41. A method of isolating DNA from bacteria, comprising: (a) treating the isolated cell walls with the polypeptide of claim 30; and (b) recovering the bacterial DNA.
 42. A nucleic acid construct or expression vector comprising the polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of claim 30, wherein the polynucleotide is operably linked to one or more control sequences that direct the production of the polypeptide in an expression host.
 43. A recombinant host cell comprising a nucleic acid construct or expression vector of claim
 42. 44. A method of producing the polypeptide of claim 30, comprising: (a) cultivating a cell, which in its wild-type form produces the polypeptide, under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide.
 45. A method of producing a polypeptide having lysozyme activity, comprising: (a) cultivating the host cell of claim 43 under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide.
 46. A transgenic plant, plant part or plant cell transformed with a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of claim
 30. 47. A method of producing a polypeptide having lysozyme activity, comprising: (a) cultivating the transgenic plant or plant cell of claim 46 under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide. 